Cherry and Atticus vs Monsters Unleashed
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch are invited to check out the Criminology Institute of the bad guys they had stopped with Mystery Inc, but unfortunately, their reputation is slowly ruined little-by-little after an accident caused by Shaggy and Scooby who decide to become more serious and no longer cowardly or goofy, but it becomes worse when the wax monsters come to life.
1. Chapter 1

Cherry and Atticus were visiting a fancy dress shop because they were invited for a special night that involved some old friends who were famous.

"Good thing our parents were also invited." Atticus smiled.

"They must be really proud..." Cherry said, she found a dress that wasn't too dark, but not too light either so both her mother and herself would be happy if she wore it for tonight. She then took it and went into one of the changing stalls to try it on and closed the curtain.

"I just hope my dad remembers to control his new strength." Atticus said while still looking for the right suit to wear.

"Hopefully he does, it can be overwhelming the first itme, I remember when you first woke up with yours," Cherry said as she put her old clothes on the edge of the door as she grabbed her dress to put it on and try it on. "It was pretty surprising."

"It sure was." Atticus said as he chose a suit that was as dark as night.

Cherry then lifted her hair up and patted down the dress. "Okay, I want your honest opinion on this one..." she said, then walked out of the stall to show the dress she picked out. "How does it look?"

"You look amazing." Atticus smiled.

"I hate it..." Cherry walked off then.

"Aw, come on!" Atticus groaned. "It's a compliment!"

"I hate dressing up..." Cherry rolled her eyes, then went to the woman up front. "How much?"

"$20." The woman told her.

Cherry took out her wallet and took out the money to pay for the dress.

"You guys going somewhere special?" the woman asked, taking her money and fiddling with her register.

"We're going to the opening of the Criminology Museum tonight," Cherry explained. "We're honored guests."

"Along with our parents." Atticus said as he went to the changing room to try on the suit he chose.

"Let's hope you have fun then, kids." the woman said, then gave Cherry her change.

Cherry then went to go back into the changing stall to put on her regular clothes and put the dress in a bag. After she got in her normal clothes and the bag, she waited for Atticus so then they could go get home and get ready for tonight.

"How do I look?" Atticus asked after coming out of the changing room.

"Better than I ever could..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

Atticus sighed and shook his head. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"I'm fickle, and yet you still wanna be my friend." Cherry replied.

Atticus sighed as he paid $50 for the suit.

"Have a nice day." the woman told the two of them.

"Thank you." Cherry and Atticus replied, then left with their new dress and suit.

Patch was waiting for them to get out and where he would also be going to the opening. Cherry and Atticus came out.

"You okay, boy?" Atticus asked his puppy.

"Yep, just been sitting here, waiting for you guys to get out of the store." Patch said.

"Come on, let's get home then, we got some work to do." Atticus said.

The humans went their separate ways to get ready, the big night would be here before they would know it as the sun was nearly in the setting position.

* * *

Patrick was now getting himself ready for the big night, but was having a little trouble with his new muscles. Emily was curling her hair with a curling iron.

" **EMILY, IT HAPPENED AGAIN!** " Patrick called.

Emily sighed. "Men..."

"Maybe they'll be alright with no sleeves." Patrick shrugged.

Emily sighed as she continued to hot curl her hair. "I worry about you sometimes..."

They then heard the front door open and close.

"Mom! Dad! Me and Patch are home!" Atticus called.

"Maybe he can help me with my suit." Patrick said.

"Good luck with that." Emily hid a smirk.

Patrick glanced at his wife and rolled his eyes. "When are you going to grow up?"

"Never!" Emily laughed.

"Are you two ready...Yet?" Atticus asked before seeing his father's suit ripped thanks to his fathers new muscles. "It happened again, right?"

Patrick smiled nervously. "I might need a little bit of help."

"Oh, boy..." Atticus sighed. "All right, come here, Dad..."

Patrick came over to his son before Atticus used his magic and made a suit for him that wouldn't rip.

"Thanks, Atticus." Patrick smiled proudly.

"No problem, Dad." Atticus smiled back.

"What're you doing with your hair?" Patch asked his owner's mother.

"Curling it," Emily explained. "This hot iron spreads on my hair and gives me neat and bouncy curls."

"Cool." Patch smiled.

"I'd let you borrow it, but it's just for girls, plus, you don't have hair." Emily giggled.

"Yeah..." Patch rolled his eyes slightly.

Darla held a pillow in her arm as she was coming down with Jessica.

"We're on our way to Amber's," Jessica told her family. "Have fun at the Institute."

"We sure will and you have fun at your sleepover." Atticus said to his sisters.

"I know I will." Darla smiled.

"See ya guys later then." Jessica waved as she then took Darla's hand over to her car to drive her to her best friend's house.

Darla gave a quick wave and followed Jessica to the car.

"I need to look my best." Patch said.

Patrick bent down and tied a bow tie around the Dalmatian puppy. "How's this?"

Patch looked down. "Do I look fancy?"

"You look like a real gentledog." Emily said once she finished curling her hair.

"Great." Patch smiled.

"You ready, dear?" Patrick then asked his wife.

"Help me with my necklace, please?" Emily requested as she turned her back to him.

Patrick nodded, then hooked the golden necklace with a seashell charm attached to the end of it around his wife's neck. "Of course, darling."

"This is going to be a great night." Emily smiled.

"It'll become the best night ever!" Patch hopped up slightly in the air.

There was a knock at the door.

Patrick opened the door to see a limo driver. "Oh, good evening, sir."

"I am here to escort you all to the Institute." the driver replied.

"Cool, we get to arrive in a limo." Patch smiled.

"I thought if we were gonna do this, why not travel in style?" Patrick smiled to his family as he slid Emily's coat on around her arms.

"You're so sweet..." Emily smirked. "Your heart is as big as your ego."

Atticus and Patch chuckled to this while Patrick blushed slightly. The family came into the limo, sitting in the backseat and the driver shut the door behind them once they were ready to go, then sat up front to drive them to the Institute.

"This is so exciting." Patch smiled.

* * *

Mo was wearing a purple and white dress with heels. She was actually willing to wear a dress this time.

"Mo, dear, I thought you'd like to wear this." James took out a golden hearted necklace.

"Oh, it's lovely..." Mo smiled at the necklace.

* * *

After a little while, Mo was now wearing the necklace.

Colette was wearing her ruby red bow and was walking along. "How do I look?"

"Like your mother." Tramp smiled to her.

"Aw! Thanks, Dad." Colette smiled.

Tramp nuzzled her. "Hope you and Mo have a lot of fun."

Colette happily nuzzled her father back.

"Is your ride here yet?" Scamp asked.

Mo looked out the window to look for her ride. And where the limo had arrived just in time.

"My ride's here!" Mo called to her family as she got on her coat to leave with Colette.

"Yay!" Colette cheered.

"You have fun, okay, sweetie?" Lady smiled to her daughter.

"Yes, Mom..." Colette nodded. "I promise to be on my best behavior."

"I know you will." Lady nuzzled her.

"Mo, what channel!?" Elizabeth called from upstairs.

"Channel 19!" Mo called as she left with the cocker spaniel puppy for their best night ever.

"Ah, hello, Madame." The driver smiled.

"Good evening, sir." Mo forced herself to curtsy.

The driver got the door for her and Colette. Mo and Colette thanked the driver and got into the limo to travel to the Institute.

* * *

Michelle was in the bedroom, crying and sniffling a little.

Cherry walked down the hall, wearing a black dress with flats and a black and silver necklace with her hair worn down. "You okay, Mom?"

"I'm just so proud of you..." Michelle sniffled.

"Then why are you crying?" Cherry asked.

"Tears of joy..." Michelle hugged her daughter nice and tight.

Cherry grunted and blinked rapidly.

"I think your daughter would like to breathe and be alive of when the limo arrives." Bud said.

Michelle then let go. "I'm just so happy!"

"Yeah..." Cherry rubbed the back of her neck before wincing. "GAH!"

"Something wrong?" Bud asked her daughter.

"I'm fine... Just... Guess I slept wrong..." Cherry smiled sheepishly.

Bud and Michelle glanced to each other, then back to their daughter.

"I'm gonna wait on the porch." Cherry went out the front door.

"Maybe your neck needs a good neck rub." Michelle smiled.

"No, it's okay..." Cherry smiled sheepishly.

"I think you do." Bud said.

"I'm fine..." Cherry walked off.

Michelle sighed. "Our little girl is growing up..."

"Ah, Shell, it's okay..." Bud held his arm around her.

"You're right." Michelle said.

Bud gave her a kiss to relax her.

Cherry's ride arrived and the passenger poked her head in. "My ride's here, I'll see you guys later."

"See ya later, Cher Bear!" Bud called.

"See ya!" Cherry called back as she was now on her way to the Institute herself.

* * *

Everything was going to be perfect tonight or so they hoped. The limo was on its way to the Institute, but was stuck for a moment.

"What's up!?" Mo called to the driver as she sat comfortably with the others.

"The driver in front is making a stop..." the driver explained, then looked strangely. "To Burger King?"

"Must be for Shaggy and Scooby." Atticus said.

Patrick put the window down and poked his head out. "There is a limo that looks like Mystery Machine."

"Yeah, Shaggy and Scooby." Cherry deadpanned.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Mystery Inc to get their orders. Once the Mystery Inc limo drove ahead, the other limo could continue after it so they could make it to the Institute Opening in time and where luckily for them, there wasn't any traffic to get in their way.

"Sorry about that, folks." the driver said about the unscheduled stop.

"It's okay." Atticus shrugged.

The driver then made his way to the opening, following the other limo. Patch put the window down and stuck his tongue out, putting his head out as many dogs did. Colette glanced at Patch, she had never done that, as her mother didn't and her father didn't anymore.

"Come on, Colette, you gotta try this!" Patch told his girlfriend.

Colette shrugged, then copied him to see what the big deal was, and where she felt of how great it was as the wind was blowing against her fur.

"How do ya feel!?" Patch asked.

"This is spectacular!" Colette laughed, having a lot of fun.

"I thought you might like this." Patch smiled.

"I do!" Colette laughed. "I really d-" she then gasped and choked a moment.

"You all right?" Patch asked.

"I just swallowed a bug, but I don't care!" Colette laughed.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this moment." Patch smiled.

Colette laughed.

"You look pretty tonight." Atticus said to Mo with a bashful smile.

Mo blushed and smiled back. "Thank you, Atticus and you look handsome and I noticed that your father looks bigger than the last time I saw him." She then said.

"Heh... Well, I gave him a helping hand..." Atticus smiled proudly.

"You're so sweet..." Mo cooed.

"I try my best." Atticus said.

Mo smiled to him and lay her head on his shoulder. Cherry was lazily playing with her phone as the couples were in embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Jessica dropped Darla off at Amber's house where their sleepover was being held. Anne-Marie and Annabelle were already there.

"Hey, Darla, you're just in time." Amber smiled to her best friend. "Come on in!"

"This is going to be the best night ever." Darla smiled.

"I got the pillows." Annabelle said.

"I got the popcorn." Anne-Marie said.

"I got the blankets." Darla said.

"And I got the remote!" Amber held out the television remote. "This is so cool, Cherry and Atticus are gonna be on TV with Mystery Inc!"

"Along with Daddy Patrick and Patch and Colette and Mo." Darla smiled.

"Sounds like you girls got the right idea," Jessica giggled. "Oh, you all just remind me of when I was your age... *sigh*...The simple times of childhood."

"Would you like to join us?" Annabelle asked.

"I see nothing wrong with that," Jessica smiled. "I'd just be home alone and I fiinished up my homework... That is, if I can be invited, Amber..."

"Of course you can!" Amber smiled to the older girl.

"Yeah, you can watch Channel 19 with us." Darla also smiled.

Jessica giggled. "Okay, if you girls really want an old lady like me around."

The girls smiled up to Jessica and they made room for her to join them. They even pulled her in to tell her that they really wanted her to join them.

Jessica giggled and sat down with the little girls. "Okay, okay, I'll join you."

Amber put the channel on and the program that was on before was just finishing up.

"This is so exciting." Darla smiled.

"Ugh, hurry up show!" Annabelle scoffed at the previous show, very much in anticipation.

"Great idea to have a slumber party on the night of the broadcast, Amber." Anne-Marie smiled.

"Yeah, this is awesome." Darla agreed.

"I just had to calculate the right time and night to have our sleepover at the same time of the broadcast." Amber smiled.

"Smart girl." Jessica smiled.

Amber smiled with a small blush.

 ** _"And now for the Live opening of the Criminology Institute to commemorate the mysteries solved by our very own Mystery Inc in the past!"_ ** The TV announced. **_"And here's our journalist hostess with the mostest, Heather Jasper-Howe!"_**

"Who?" Darla asked.

"She's a journalist," Amber explained. "I don't like her much though, she seems kinda snotty, something about her bugs me."

 ** _'Here we are, folks,'_ ** a voice narrated as there were bright lights and many people over for what they believe to be the best night ever. **_'On the red carpet at the grand opening of the Coolsonian Criminology Museum. Tonight's premiere exhibit is a rousing look back on at the exploits of Mystery Incorporated and their newest contributors and helpers, Cherry Butler and Atticus Fudo with their own special guests... And here they are!'_**

The Mystery Inc limo was opened first to welcome Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.

"They are so lucky." Darla smiled.

"I'll say," Amber looked back with a smile. "You must be really proud, Jessica."

"I really am..." Jessica said with a joyful tear in her eye for Atticus to be apart of this.

* * *

Mystery Inc left their limo and were followed by Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch. Fred helped Daphne out, taking her hand.

"Folks, this crowd is going crazy for Mystery Inc and their new friends!" the host told the people at home as the rabid fans were wildly cheering right behind him.

"FRED, WE LOVE YOU!" a swarm of young fan girls dashed over to the blonde leader.

 _'Wow, that's a lot of fans.'_ Patch thought to himself.

"Here you go, girls," Fred smirked rather smugly, taking out ascots. "I got an ascot for each of you."

The girls squealed and jumped at him. Shaggy waved as he took out his milkshake with him.

"Rello!" Scooby greeted the people, he had on sunglasses with glossy photographs of himself and ate his burger.

"Check it out," Shaggy smiled. "It's a Shag and Scoob Quake and the whole city's shakin'."

Speaking of shakes, Scooby began to secretly drink the milkshake Shaggy had. Unfortunatly the cup got stuck on his nose and he tried to shake it off and accidentally splashed the chauffeur in the process.

"Ro... Rorry..." Scooby smiled sheepishly to the driver.

"I consider it a privilege, sir..." the driver replied with a patient smile as he dried himself.

Daphne's fan girls dressed as her and gave her violets while the guys had tattoos of her on their chests.

"I wonder if we have any fans..." Cherry muttered as she walked with Atticus, Mo, and Patch.

Patch encouraged Colette to walk with them, even if she wasn't as famous as the humans or him with them. To their surprise, they did have their own fans there as well. Patch decided to walk side-by-side with Colette so she wouldn't feel scared, worried, or nervous. Atticus and Mo were surprised and delighted to meet their own fans.

"Hmm..." Cherry hummed.

"Death and despair!" a voice called. "Death and despair!"

"You're kidding me, right?" Cherry glanced at a boy around her age who had skin as white as snow with spiked black and crimson red hair with leather clothes and a spiked choker around his neck.

"Looks like you kids have your own fans." Patrick smiled at the kids and Patch.

Atticus chuckled. "Yeah, Dad."

Heather came to interview Fred as he posed with Daphne who looked very bright and cheerful about tonight.

"Uh-oh, we better watch what we say to that woman." Patrick warned the kids and the pups.

"Why's that, Mr. F?" Mo asked her boyfriend's father.

"She's not that flattering..." Emily sighed once she spotted Heather. "She just loves the spotlight and usually shreds her interviewer's reputation... Be on the look out, dears." she then warned.

Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Patch, and Colette then nodded in understanding to Emily, taking her words very seriously, though they were very curious of what she and Patrick meant by what was said.

"Wait, when you say 'shred their reputation', you mean she mixes up the persons words and makes everyone think they said something else to make them look bad?" Atticus asked.

"Yes, very much so..." Emily sighed, slowly shutting her eyes. "She's like the diva in school who turns everyone against her for her own selfish will and gain."

"Did you happen to go to school with her?" Cherry asked, based on that analogy.

"No, I've just heard rumors about her and have met many people who have had to experience with interviews with her." Emily said.

"Just watch out if she wants to interview you." Patrick added.

"We will." the others replied.

Patrick and Emily then let them go off and meet their fans before going. Scooby greeted the people and ran into a few dogs who wanted to meet him and talk with him. The kids and pups did the same with their fans. The dogs growled to Colette at first.

"What's wrong?" Colette frowned to them.

"Hey, hey, hey, hold it!" Patch stood in front of his girlfriend, already knowing why they were doing that. "This is Colette, not Annette, you hear me? _Colette_! _**Not** Annette!_ "

"Oops! Sorry." The dogs apologized.

"Phew..." Colette looked relieved now that the dogs didn't hate her, they probably mistook her for her evil sister who teamed up with Scrappy in Spooky Island.

Scooby saw the three dogs and decided to talk with them with the puppies.

"Sign my dog bowl!" the spaniel barked.

"Tug on my chew toy!" the Pomeranian added.

"Sniff my butt!" the beagle added.

"Nothing could ruin this night." Colette smiled.

Patch smiled to her, really glad that she was having a good time.

"With all your success, will you still have time for us in little old Coolsville?" Heather interviewed Fred.

"Uh-oh, we better make sure Fred doesn't say something that might be mixed up of what he actually meant to say." Colette whispered to her mate.

Patch tried to rush over, but it seemed to be too late.

"Of course little old Coolsville can solve its problems without us, but we'll always be here to help." Fred said with a rather cocky smirk to the camera.

This caused for Patch and Colette to face-paw, knowing that it would be made to sound differently than what Fred might have meant it to be.

"This can't be happening..." Patch muttered.

"I just know this won't look good on the news..." Colette added.

* * *

There were some fan girls of Atticus's who really wanted to see his muscles. Mo sighed and shook her head. They even insisted on Atticus to show off his muscles.

"Sorry, Mo..." Atticus said to the only girl he had any romantic interest in.

"It's okay, just do it..." Mo allowed him.

Atticus smiled at her, knowing she would understand. Mo patted him on the head, then went to meet her fans. Atticus smiled to the girls, then flexed his muscles. The girls squealed and fainted in uber fan girl delight.

"Well, at least this won't change Atticus, hopefully." Mo whispered.

Cherry walked past her fans and she signed a few autographs here and there, she was surprised on the inside that she even had fans. Mo began to sign autographs for her fans to pass the time until they had to go inside.

* * *

"It's always exciting to be among fans who desire you," Darla said as they watched this on television. "The glamour, the bright lights, the cheerful people..."

"You don't sound that happy about it." Amber said.

"I had many fans, but never any friends..." Darla said, then smiled. "Until I met _you_ that is."

"Awww!" The girls smiled.

Darla smiled bashfully then.

"I'm just so proud of Atticus..." Jessica smiled softly. "I always believed in him, he always had something very special and unique about him that's been there since the day I held him in my arms for the first time."

"Awww!" Darla, Amber, Anne-Marie, and Annabelle smiled.

Darla gently squeezed Jessica's hand. Jessica smiled and gently squeezed back with a tear in her eye as she bowed her head, but was not sad.

"Aww!" Amber frowned once she saw a flower she had in a flower pot was wilting.

"What's the matter?" Annabelle asked.

"It's a flower I got for my mom for her birthday..." Amber pouted. "It's wilted... It was so special and unique like her, so I picked it for her..."

Darla knew of how to bring the flower back to life.

"Can't you find another one like it?" Anne-Marie asked.

"No, I found it on the playground, I don't think I can find another one like it..." Amber sadly sighed.

"It's okay, Amber..." Annabelle soothed. "I'm sure your mom would understand..."

Darla took the flower and closed her eyes in concentration to bring the flower back to life for Amber's happiness, and where after a little while, there was a bright moon light from her hands and where the flower began to come back to life and bloom even more beautiful.

Darla smiled, then came to her best friend. "Amber, I have a surprise for you..." she then held out the flower.

"You fixed it!" Amber smiled, taking the flower, then looked to her best friend. "How did you do that?"

"I have the same power as a jewel called The Legendary Silver Crystal." Darla said.

"I wish I had powers..." Anne-Marie pouted.

"Can't you contact angels from Heaven now because of Charlie though?" Amber asked.

"I could do that?" Anne-Marie asked.

"Yeah." Amber said.

"Do you have powers?" Anne-Marie asked Amber.

"Not that I know of, unless talking to animals is included." Amber said.

"Hmm... I'm sure something will come up your sleeve..." Darla encouraged.

* * *

'The people in Coolsville are the best in the world!" Fred announced which made the people cheer.

"Guys, we can go inside now." Velma came to Cherry, Atticus, Mo, Patch, and Colette.

"Great." Patch smiled.

There was someone in the crowd who was very angry and grumpy about Mystery Inc however.

* * *

Everybody went inside the museum and a string quartet played as the people mingled and socialized on a great night.

"I can't believe we're finally here," Atticus said. "With all that we dreamed and imagined is sure to make this the best night ever!"

"You're not gonna sing, are you?" Cherry asked with a teasing smirk.

"No." Atticus smirked back.

"Good..." Cherry stuck her tongue out then.

Atticus did the same, but then brought his smile back once they were going inside the museum and took Mo's hand to help her inside. The people were taking pictures and they looked at the glass containers holding in villains of Scooby Doo mysteries past.

"Wow, there sure are a lot of disguises in the museum." Colette said.

"Yeah, Mystery Inc's been through so much..." Patch agreed.

"You can say that again." Atticus smiled.

"Just think, maybe someday someone will make a detective museum for you." Mo smiled to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, maybe." Atticus smiled back.

Patrick and Emily smiled, they were so proud of Atticus to be apart of this.

"These costumes look so real." Patch said.

"They, like, totally seemed real at the time..." Shaggy chuckled. "But there's no such things as monsters..."

Patch tilted his head. "Don't you remember Ms. Grimwood's school?"

"Like, don't remind me." Shaggy shuddered.

Patch smirked.

"Ms. Grimwood's school?" Colette asked.

"Oh, it's a finishing school," Patch explained. "There were daughters of famous monsters there, like there was Winnie the werewolf, Dracula's daughter Sibella, Tanis, the Mummy's daughter, Phantasma, the phantom's daughter, Elsa, the daughter of Frankenstein..."

"Wow, you guys sure have some interesting adventures." Colette smiled.

"I wonder what would happen if I became someone else's best friend back in the orphanage..." Cherry muttered. She then wondered about that, but decided to put that thought aside and just enjoy the night.

"Can you tell us a little about the exhibit?" Heather asked Mystery Inc.

"Absolutely." Fred agreed as Daphne was still clinging to him.

'It would be nice to know more about the exhibit.' Colette thought to herself.

"Mystery Inc. is proud to donate the costumes of criminals we've unmasked." Daphne said. "Like the Black Knight Ghost."

"Our very first case." Fred informed.

"Cool." Colette smiled.

'The 10,000 Volt Ghost." Daphne then showed another case.

"Yikes!" Colette winced. "I think Mo once said that 10,000 volts is deathly."

"It is." Mo confirmed.

"Ruh-huh." Scooby nodded as he posed with Velma to the display.

"The Skeleton Man and even the dreaded Pterodactyl Ghost." Daphne added, walking over to those displays.

"We've also donated the costumes of some of our more ridiculous foes," Velma came to one for example. "Like Chickenstein."

"Who would make up such a ridiculous monster?" Mo asked.

"Ya got me..." Velma rolled her eyes.

"Uh, Velma, can we get a shot of you next to the Black Knight?" a photographer requested.

"Wait, Velma, over here!" another called.

"Excuse me a moment." Velma said, going over to the photographers.

"Ridiculous?" Shaggy repeated what Velma thought of Chickenstein. "Obviously she forgot that dude tried to pluck us!"

"Reah!" Scooby agreed.

"Guys, remember what I told you." Daphne said.

"Never pick your nose in public." Shaggy recited.

"No, but that's good too." Daphne replied.

"Rimage is reverything." Scooby recited.

"Yes, image is everything," Daphne nodded to the Great Dane. "Okay, the whole city's watching and Atticus's parents are here, so try and keep a brave face."

Shaggy and Scooby were now scared as they were in front of the costume of the pterodactyl ghost.

"They're costumes..." Daphne sighed.

"Roh." Scooby nodded.

"Right." Shaggy added.

Daphne just scoffed and walked away.

"She's right, Scoob, it's just a costume, that doesn't scare us." Shaggy said.

Shaggy and Scooby had a hard time convincing themselves so they just walked away from the exhibit.

"The Tar Monster scared the locals of the city of Byzantius away in order to take their treasure," Fred said to Heather as he stood by Daphne again. "But on the positive side, he'd pave your driveway for free."

This made the reporters laugh.

 _'That's a good one.'_ Patch thought to himself.

"Isn't that right, Cherry?" Fred then asked.

The perky goth seemed distracted.

"Cherry?" Fred repeated.

Cherry looked far into the crowd and saw a red-headed man in a gray suit with squarish glasses walking right from the crowd that seemed to catch her attention.

"Cherry? Cherry?" Atticus asked while waving his left hand in front of her eyes.

The young male was still walking, but his feet scuffed and he fell right in the middle of the floor, but he got up and continued his way over. Cherry seemed to be lost in her own little world and her face was bright pink now.

"Hello? Earth to Cherry." Atticus said.

Daphne noticed the shift in Cherry, then walked over with a small smirk.

"Cherry, this is Patrick Wisely," Velma introduced, she found the man attractive, but wasn't going to pursue him because she had feelings for someone else in mind. "He's the curator here at the museum."

"Uh, it's very nice to meet you, Patrick..." Cherry forced herself to say as she felt very unusual inside.

"What's going on with Cherry?" Patch asked.

Daphne pushed Cherry over to the museum curator and walked off.

"What was that all about?" Colette asked her.

"Oh, nuthin'~" Daphne smirked innocently.

"Okay?" Colette said, confused.

"Uh, listen, Cherry," Patrick said to the perky goth. "I know that you're a glamorous, mysterious, jet-set adventurer preoccupied with international intrigue and all..."

"Yeah, that's me..." Cherry shrugged.

* * *

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Atticus asked Mo.

"Asking Cherry out on a date?" Mo asked, sounding as if that were a truly a fate worse than death.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Atticus nodded.

"Is he suicidal?" Mo asked with a teasing smirk because of how Cherry was sometimes.

Atticus shrugged with a teasing smirk back. Patch and Colette still seemed lost however.

"Isn't he a little too old for her...?" Mo asked.

"Cherry's always liked older men." Atticus replied.

"Hm..." Mo folded her arms with a smirk.

"Yeah." Atticus said.

There was suddenly electrical zapping heard which shattered the windows and shredded the glass into millions of pieces.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the heck was that?" Patch asked.

The string quartet ran to their feet and the people screamed in alarm and worry.

"What's happening!?" Velma gasped as the wind was blowing violently.

A green mist appeared behind the red curtains. Daphne noticed this and decided to open them and once she did, an old familiar face of the Pterodactyl Ghost was shown and screeched in her face once it was revealed.

"Uh, guys?" Daphne asked, scared.

" **DAPHNE!** " Fred gasped for her.

Daphne fell on her backside as the Pterodactyl Ghost came alive and shattered the glass.

Fred helped Daphne up and held her securely. "We need to come up with a plan."

"Hiding is our plan!" Shaggy called as he hid with Scooby behind one of the monsters.

"Oh, brother." Patch groaned.

"In case you haven't noticed, there's an unidentified freaky object in here!" Shaggy pointed nervously to the prehistoric ghost.

The ghost screeched and flew in, knocking down a suit of armor.

"The curtains!" Velma gasped.

"We're on them!" Fred ran with Daphne.

"What do you want us to do, Velma?" Patch asked, referring to himself, Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Colette, and Atticus's parents.

"Someone needs to grab the ropes!" Velma sounded urgent.

"I'll do it." Atticus volunteered.

"I'll help him with the ropes." Patrick added.

"Good, just hurry!" Velma exclaimed slightly.

"We got him, Daph!" Fred called as he had the red curtains with his girlfriend in the team.

"Guys, use the ropes to tie him down!" Velma called to the father and son.

Atticus and Patrick brought the rope over to them, and began to tie the rope all around the prehistoric ghost and finished with a tight squeeze.

"It's just a costume..." Shaggy tried to convince himself. "It's just a costume... It's just a costume..."

"Okay, we tied it, let go!" Patrick called.

Fred and Daphne let go of the curtains and backed away, and where to the pterodactyl ghost it was hard to get out of the tightness.

Patrick and Atticus smirked and high-fived each other. "Yeah!"

"Oh, thank goodness..." Emily was glad that her husband and son were safe.

"Like, I thought something bad was going to happen." Shaggy said.

"Aaaand now it is..." Cherry said.

"What makes you say that?" Shaggy asked.

"Oh, something usually does when someone says something like that." Cherry replied.

"Oh, come on, what could happen?" Emily asked.

"Stop that!" Cherry scolded.

"Look, Cherry, the ropes are tight, see?" Shaggy said before he tugged on the ropes which made them loose and freed the Pterodactyl Ghost. "Whoops!"

"Ugh, I knew something like that would happen." Cherry face-palmed.

The ghost got loose and flew, the ropes were now around Shaggy and Scooby's ankles and the ghost pulled the cowardly duo with them and they crashed against one of the banquet tables.

"Oh, come on!" Atticus groaned.

Shaggy and Scooby screamed as they were dragged.

"Can anything else go wrong?" Cherry mumbled like she anticipated those two to screw up due to being the most afraid and goofy of the gang.

"Why did you have to ask that question?" Atticus asked with a face-palm.

"Oh, so if you guys do it it's okay, but I can't?" Cherry gave a small glare.

"Fair enough." Atticus said.

"We have to save Shaggy and Scooby!" Velma cried, very worried about her cowardly friends.

"As usual." Cherry deadpanned.

"But how?" Colette asked.

" **MYSTERY INCORPORATED!** " a voice yelled.

"Ooh, this should be good..." Cherry mumbled.

"Oh, great, must be a new villain." Atticus groaned.

"Excuse me while I find a container for my joy." Cherry deadpanned once more.

"Should we turn and see who it is?" Patch asked.

"Who is that guy?" Cherry asked Mystery Inc since the mysterious man came for them.

"He doesn't look like anyone we've ever seen before." Fred shrugged.

"This is only the first rung on the ladder of your demise." the mysterious villain continued.

Shaggy and Scooby yelled as the Pterodactyl Ghost flew with them at the ends of the rope and crashed against some glass exhibits. The bad guy laughed at their misfortune as the Black Knight Ghost's sword was flying in the air then. Daphne then remembered her martial arts she studied and grabbed the sword with ease and ran with it, knowing just what to do.

"And this time," the mysterious villain went on then. "You'll be the ones unmasked as the buffoons you truly are, along with those new friends of yours as honorary members!"

Daphne then cut the ropes with the swords, freeing Shaggy and Scooby, but caused them to crash against other displays, but allowed the Pterodactyl Ghost to fly away with the new villain out the broken window.

"Who was that?" Colette asked.

"I guess nobody knows..." Patch shrugged.

* * *

The police showed up to take care of everyone and put the yellow tape in place of the crime scene.

 ** _"Any clues to the cause of the attack?"_ ** Heather asked as she was being filmed live. **_"How did the dinosaur get through security? Where did Mystery Inc.'s plan go wrong?"_**

Jessica, Anne-Marie, Darla, Annabelle, and Amber were still watching this from Amber's living room.

"I hate that woman." Amber glared.

"She looks pretty, but she sure doesn't act like it..." Anne-Marie nodded. "Can't be worse than Mr. Carface..."

"You," Heather spoke as she went to an officer. "Any leads on the identity of the masked man?"

Velma went to inspect with Cherry.

"What do we have here?" Cherry asked once she moved something with the brains of Mystery Inc and cracked something open to show a hidden floor.

"A secret hatch!" Cherry and Velma said together.

"The Pterodactyl Ghost must have came through here." Velma suggested before seeing a glowing scale.

"Good find..." Cherry's eyes widened slightly from the reptilian scale.

"A most wonderful clue." Velma nodded in agreement.

"He stole two costumes," Atticus said as he was with Fred, Daphne, Mo, Colette, and Patch. "The Black Knight Ghost and The 10,000 Volt Ghost. Why?"

"Sounds like a true mystery." Fred gave a small nod.

"Atticus, Mo, could you answer a few questions for the press?" Heather came to the honored guests to this institute.

"Atticus, I don't think that's a really good idea..." Mo warned. "Remember what your mother said."

"She's right," Daphne agreed. "We always face the press after we've unmasked the creeps. We looked ridiculous back there. I don't want you guys to be publicly humiliated."

"Don't worry; I'm saying a word to that witch." Atticus told them.

"Ah, don't worry about it, sweetheart," Fred thought differently however. "The press loves us."

Heather smiled eagerly and the cameras flashed rapidly.

Fred went with Daphne. "We'll take it from here." he said as they were going to take Atticus and Mo's place, ignoring the warning of being interviewed by Heather Jasper-Howe.

"This is just going to not look good on the morning news." Patrick said.

Emily sighed and shook her head, unsure of what to say, she felt something was going to happen though since Fred and Daphne were going to be interviewed by Heather.

* * *

And where the next morning, her fears were realized. Emily finished making breakfast and right now, the morning news was on for the family. It was just Atticus, Patch, and the parents though since Darla and Jessica were still at Amber's house for the slumber party.

 ** _'The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall,'_ ** Heather informed the viewers of last night's affair. **_'And Mystery Inc fell far in the embarrassing debacle that tarnished the reputation of the once great gang. It was an utter disaster as two of the gang's key members, Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers and Scoobert 'Scooby-Doo' are seen here causing untold damage to Coolsville's hottest new tourist attraction which took a full two years to complete.'_**

Atticus sighed and shook his head, but he did not blame Shaggy and Scooby for that, even though Shaggy made a little mistake with what he did with his father to capture the Pterodactyl Ghost.

 ** _'When asked for comment, Fred Jones, leader of Mystery Inc., said this.'_ ** Heather then said, showing a clip of Fred from last night.

 ** _"Coolsville can solve its problems without us."_ ** Fred said, yes, he did say that, but that was not what he said about the disaster.

"Why that witch!" Atticus glared pounding his fist on the table, making a hole into it. "Oops, sorry, Mom."

"It's okay..." Emily had anger, but not toward him. "I totally understand."

'This is Heather Jasper-Howe, disillusioned from Coolsville.' Heather signed off.

Patch turned off the TV, clicking the button on the remote by instinct. "Maybe we should go over to The Mystery Inc's place and check on how they're doing." He then suggested.

"I'm sure they're just as angry as we are." Emily said.

"You guys go ahead," Patrick smiled to his son and dog. "I'm sure they'd be more thrilled to see you anyhow since you're all such good friends these days."

Atticus nodded, he put his breakfast plate up and left with Patch.

* * *

Cherry passed Atticus and shoved her iPhone in his face to show the news of last night's event. "Did you see this!? Can you believe it!?"

"I saw it, and I'm with you, I can't believe it." Atticus said.

"Guys! I just watched the news!" Mo informed.

"Why would that lady do such a thing?" Patch frowned.

"I'm gonna keep an eye on her, I never did like reporters like her..." Cherry lowly growled. "I'm on my way to Mystery Inc's new place, you guys wanna come?"

"Yeah!" Atticus, Mo, and Patch nodded.

"Come on..." Cherry gestured for them to follow.

And so they did.

"I don't know about everybody else, but we know the truth." Patch said, very serious.

"Who knows?" Mo shrugged. "Maybe they won't believe everything they hear on the news."

"People are like sheep," Cherry said. "They follow the crowd because they're too stupid to make their own decisions."

"She has a point..." Atticus had to admit it, even though what she said wasn't very nice.

"I'm nonconformist," Cherry said dully. "I only follow what I want to and not what everybody else does."

* * *

It took a little while, but they finally got to Mystery Inc's new place.

"Sweet place." Patch smiled.

"I gotta say, this place looks sweet." Mo smiled in approval.

"Okay, modesty aside... This place is kinda cool." Cherry even liked the sight and rang their doorbell.

"If that's a reporter, no comment!" Fred called from inside.

"Fred, calm down, it's just us!" Atticus called out.

"Like, how do we know it's the real you?!" Shaggy called back.

"Don't you guys got like security cameras or something?" Mo asked.

"Oh... Like... Right..." Shaggy said.

"Shaggy, it's us..." Cherry rolled her eyes. "Just let us in."

"If you're who you say you are, then, like, prove it." Shaggy said.

"Uhh..." Cherry tried to think. "We first met in Oakhaven for their Autumn Fest... Atticus is cousins with one of the Hex Girls, Thorn... They both have Wiccan blood."

"Okay, then if that's true, then let Atticus take the door off its hinges!" Shaggy suggested.

Atticus smirked and walked up to the door to do just that.

"This can't end well..." Cherry face-palmed.

Atticus took the door off and poked his head in to see Fred, Daphne, and Velma in what looked like the living room area of the hang-out headquarters for Mystery Inc.

"Like, yep, you guys are the real ones." Shaggy nodded, though he wasn't seen.

"Where are you?" Mo asked, unable to find Shaggy.

Shaggy and Scooby came out from behind the kitchen nook like they were trying very hard not to be seen.

* * *

"Are you guys okay?" Cherry asked Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they looked very down in the dumps about last night.

"Yeah, because you guys look a little down in the dumps." Patch frowned.

"We're fine..." Fred sighed softly. "We just need to stay strong, in control, and work fast."

"Come on, gang," Velma proposed. "Let's get to the lab. We'll figure a way out of this Jurassic jumble, you guys can come too."

"Don't mind if we do." Patch smiled.

"You don't blame Shaggy and Scooby for last night, do you?" Mo asked.

"Oh, we know how they can be, but it's okay." Fred shrugged off.

"Yeah, I could never blame Shaggy..." Velma sounded distant slightly as she said her friend's name and brushed some hair behind her ear absentmindedly.

"Let's go to the lab and find out if that DNA sample is really a pterodactyl scale." Atticus said.

"You still have it, right, Velma?" Patch asked, remembering that she had collected it last night before they all went home.

"Uh, y-y-yeah..." Velma nodded, getting back to focus.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, just had to think..." Velma adjusted her glasses. "Come on, we'll show you guys to the lab."

Cherry glanced back at the sad Shaggy and Scooby and continued on with the others to the Mystery Inc lab to investigate the mysterious pterodactyl scale.

"There's no way that is a real pterodactyl scale, dinosaurs have been extinct for years." Mo said.

"That's what I need to find out." Velma said as she took the scale, ready to experiment with it.

"If it's a real Pterodactyl scale, then we might be in big trouble." Patch said.

* * *

With that, they all got to work, meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby decided to do some of their own work, they couldn't help but feel blamed for the embarrassment of their friends last night.

"Velma, I'm just curious and I know this is kinda out there, but... Do you like Shaggy?" Mo couldn't help but wonder.

This caused for Velma to blush and tense up.

"Velma...?" Mo narrowed her eyes with a small smirk.

"Uh, let's just try to focus on work, shall we?" Velma chuckled sheepishly.

"I knew it all along..." Cherry said. "Ever since I first heard about you guys, I just knew you had to be a couple or something..."

"Okay, I have liked Shaggy ever since high school." Velma admitted.

"Called it..." Cherry whispered.

"I did find Patrick Wisely attractive, but... My heart belongs to Shaggy..." Velma admitted.

"Does he know?" Mo asked.

Velma shook her head. "I-I'm afraid of rejection."

"How could he reject you?" Atticus asked, having a feeling that Shaggy felt the same way about her.

"I just... I don't know..." Velma rubbed her arm.

"Um, has he ever seen that Mary Jane girl from Spooky Island again?" Cherry asked, curiously.

"I think they broke up or something..." Velma shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"Really?" Patch asked.

"Not a lot..." Velma mumbled. "It was Spring Break after all... College girls usually don't remember a lot of their spring breaks because they..." she then realized what she was about to say and it might not be appropriate in front of younger audiences. "Erm, never mind... Uh, enough about romance, let's check out that pterodactyl scale."

"Agreed." Atticus said.

"I'll help." Daphne decided to step in.

"Good, I'll need all the help I can get." Velma approved.

Shaggy and Scooby seemed to disappear from the group as they were investigating the scale.

"By the way, where are Shaggy and Scooby anyway?" Patch asked.

"I'm sure they found some food to cheer themselves up." Fred shrugged.

They set to work on investigating the scale.


	4. Chapter 4

A little while later, the cowardly duo showed up and they dressed differently, Scooby had on an orange sweater while Shaggy dressed like Fred, only in his usual and preferred green and brown over the blue, orange, and white.

"Right, like, it's time to solve the mystery," Shaggy entered with his best pal. "Let's kick this investigation up to an eleven!"

"What the heck are you two wearing?" Mo asked.

"Well, we figured the first step in solving a mystery would be to wear the right attire." Shaggy replied casually.

Cherry face-palmed and shook her head. "I'm surrounded by morons..." she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Daph, but your go-go boots didn't fit... Me." Shaggy then said.

Scooby showed his back hind legs to show he had on Daphne's purple boots.

"Scooby!" Daphne scolded. "Those so don't go with that sweater!"

"I don't think any of those clothes go great together." Patch said.

Velma's machine was beeping and scanning.

"It found something!" Cherry rushed over and took the paper that was scanned.

"Ah, clues!" Shaggy said as he took the paper from her to observe it. "Alas, what are these strange markings?"

Fred turned the paper the other way since it was upside down. "Words."

"That moment when _Fred's_ the smart one..." Cherry mumbled with an aside glance.

"Let's take a look at what we've found." Patch said.

"Scooby-Doo, take notes." Shaggy told the Great Dane.

"Rotcha." Scooby replied, taking out a pad and pencil.

"Gimme that!" Cherry glared, swiping the paper back so Velma could take a look at the reading.

"Please don't be real, please don't be real." Patch prayed.

"It's come back positive..." Velma whispered, confirming it. "This is a real pterodactyl scale."

"Precisely!" Shaggy chimed in, though looked fearful of that.

"That can't be possible!" Cherry grabbed her hair. "Who could make a _real_ pterodactyl ghost?"

Daphne went over to the crime computer since Cherry did not have her laptop on her for once and looked up the origin of the real pterodactyl ghost for all of them.

"Wait... Dr. Jacobo: The Original Pterodactyl Ghost." Atticus said.

"That's right!" Velma remembered.

"Who was he?" Patch asked.

"Jacobo wreaked havoc in a statewide crime spree." Velma started to explain.

"Ohh, right, wasn't he a crazy scientist trying to create real monsters?" Patch asked.

"Exactly." Atticus said.

"Jacobo stole millions," Velma continued. "Which he used to finance his failed experiments trying to create monsters."

"You guys think Jacobo's behind this?" Fred asked.

"No way, one day he tried to escape prison and where it didn't end so well." Atticus said.

"What happened again?" Patch asked.

"His body was lost at sea," Velma explained.

"Well, how 'bout this?" Daphne stepped in. "Jacobo's cellmate was released from prison two months ago."

"Wasn't he Old Man Wickles?" Cherry asked.

"He was also The Black Knight Ghost." Atticus said.

"That was one of the costumes that was stolen." Fred remarked.

"Right!" Shaggy chimed in again. "And... Uh... Scooby-Doo, what's your conclusion?" he then asked.

"Runny." Scooby turned his notepad to show he drew a bunny and made the pad hop around.

"Wow..." Mo droned.

"I say we go to Old Man Wickles's place, and ask him a few questions," Atticus said. "In case if he's home."

"Come on then, let's go." Fred agreed.

* * *

With that, they all came to the Mystery Machine, Fred drove of course and everyone else rode in the back.

"You guys got room back there?" Fred asked their extra passengers for the day as Cherry texted her parents where she was going to be.

"Yeah, we got room." Atticus said.

"We're good." Mo added.

"All right, just hang tight." Fred said as he drove to Old Man Wickles's house.

They kept driving and Daphne gave her boyfriend directions since she knew where to go and Fred actually agreed with her and followed where she said to go.

"Hey, uh, Scooby, would you mind if you sit over here?" Patch asked, referring to sitting with him and the kids.

"Uh... Rokay..." Scooby agreed as he then went to the back to join the kids before Patch pushed Shaggy slightly to Velma.

Mo saw what was going on and smirked. Shaggy and Velma both blinked and then glanced to each other.

"Uh, hi..." Velma smiled halfway.

"Heh... Like... Hello..." Shaggy smiled back slightly nervously.

 _'Yep, they have feelings for each other.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

Nothing else was said between Shaggy and Velma, but at least they were getting 'cozy'.

"Freddy, up on right." Daphne said once they were at the front gate.

"Jeez, can't these two try to talk?" Patch whispered to his owner, referring to Velma and Shaggy.

"Probably don't know what to say yet." Atticus whispered back with a shrug.

"Old Man Wickles' ancestral manor." Cherry sounded slightly excited.

"Oh, man, another creepy crib," Shaggy muttered as bats squeaked. "How come we can't ever investigate, like, a Burger King or something?"

"Oh, come on; I bet it's not so bad in there." Atticus assured him.

"I wanna check it out..." Cherry sounded perky this time.

"Is this like, what you mean when you call yourself a 'perky goth'?" Shaggy asked, noticing Cherry being suddenly perky.

"You are correct, sir." Cherry smirked sincerely.

"Come on, it's not that very scary." Patch said.

"Then why does Cherry like it?" Shaggy asked.

"Raggy!" Scooby called, then did fighting moves before getting out with the kids and one puppy.

"Then again, 'Creepy' is my middle name." Shaggy smiled innocently.

"It is?" Mo asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Shaggy shrugged then as they all got out of the Mystery Machine to investigate.

"Um, okay?" Mo shrugged.

"Come on, Scoob!" Shaggy called for his canine best friend.

"Rokay!" Scooby joined him as they all left the van and stood in front of the ancestral manor.

They all climbed the stairs and passed a 'No Trespassing' sign.

"Looks a bit fixer-upper..." Cherry shrugged.

A couple of boys rode by on their bikes and got the groups' attention.

"Hey, nice job last night!" a boy called before putting his thumb down to diss them. "LOSERS!"

Patch began growling at the two boys.

"What dorks." the other boy said.

"Quick, we need to think of a comeback," Daphne whispered to her friends, then called to the bullying boys. "Hey! Shut up!"

"Yes, that's masterful..." Velma deadpanned.

Cherry's eyes seemed to flash from rage of the bullying boys and her body seemed to glow which released a white tiger with purple stripes to pounce out and then jumped right in front of the mean boys who then screamed at the sight. And rode their bicycles away from them as fast as they could. The tiger snarled viciously, but let them ride off and then the tiger wandered off, nuzzling against Cherry.

"Did you torment those bullies, huh?" Cherry cooed in a baby voice. "Did ya? Did ya scare away those meany butts?"

"I sure did." The tiger purred.

"Uh, like, you all see that tiger, right?" Shaggy pointed nervously.

"Go home now." Cherry told her tiger.

"As you wish..." the tiger nodded before disappearing back into Cherry's imagination.

"It's a long story." Atticus told the others. "We'll discuss that later."

Fred tried to let them in by ringing the doorbell, but an announcement was heard.

 ** _'You are trespassing on Wickles Manor,'_** a man over the megaphone announced as home security. **_'Leave now or pay the price.'_**

Atticus was about to ring the doorbell next.

"Dude," Shaggy tried to stop him. "He just said we'd pay the price!"

"Oh, come on, Shaggy, what could possibly happen with ringing a doorbell?" Atticus asked before ringing the doorbell again.

Cherry face-palmed, knowing something would happen then since Atticus said that. After the doorbell was rung again, a trap door opened up and it made all of them fall instantly down through it.

* * *

They were all sliding down a chute and placed into a sphere which rolled them down roller-coaster like tracks and brought them all into a different room.

"That's what could happen by ringing a doorbell, Atticus!" Shaggy scolded. "That!"

"That was fun!" Patch cheered. "Let's go again!"

"Guh, let's not!" Cherry groaned. "I think I just dislocated my stomach..."

 ** _'At 7:00 PM, the owner will be home to set you free.'_ ** the man over the speaker told the new 'guests'.

"Hey," a little girl scout was shown to be in her own sphere and took out a box to show them. "You wanna buy a box of cookies?"

"Excuse me," a priest added as he took out a book and was standing beside a colleague. "Have you heard the Good News?"

"Reah!" Scooby beamed. "Rhere's rookies!"

"Let me see if I can get us out of these cage spheres." Atticus said.

Velma stood up. "Uh, thanks, Atticus, but there's a thumbprint scanner."

"Let me get my make-up." Daphne said, having an idea.

"Daphne, I know you're a girly girl, but I hardly think this is the time to check your make-up..." Mo sighed.

"You know what, Mo?" Daphne smirked slightly. "It's never too late to learn how to properly apply make-up."

"Let me guess, you're going to use the make up on the thumbprint scanner to get us free, right?" Atticus asked.

"Yeah," Daphne said as she did as he predicted what he said she would do. "The last good thumbprint should still be there, so... A little blush... A pore strip... And... Voila!"

This allowed the sphere to come apart and free them instantly.

"Okay, being a girly girl has its perks, I guess..." Mo shrugged. "Wait 'til I tell my mother."

"I enjoy being a girl." Daphne smiled, then decided to do the same with the girl scout and the two pastors.

"Okay, now let's find a way out of here and to the living room." Patch said.

"Hopefully before 7:00..." Cherry added.

* * *

It was a long walk, but they finally made it to the top floor. The girl scout and pastors thanked Mystery Inc and friends for letting them out, the girl scout even let them have some cookies on the house as a reward.

"Let's see if I can try to get my mechanic's job back..." one of the pastors muttered as he left with them.

"Rhanks for the rookies!" Scooby smiled to the girl scout.

"You're welcome!" the girl scout beamed as she eagerly skipped out the door.

"Okay, from here we should split up and search for clues." Atticus said.

"Yeah, come on, Scoob," Shaggy agreed, already going with the Great Dane. "We'll go this way."

Scooby nodded and left with Shaggy instantly.

"You stole the thing I say!" Fred gawked at Atticus like he was gratefully offended.

"Aw, just go with Daphne, we _all_ know how you like pairing off with her." Cherry scoffed.

"Yeah." Patch nodded.

Fred turned red slightly, unable to say anything after that.

"I'll go with you wherever you go." Mo said to Atticus.

"I'll go with Patch..." Cherry shrugged.

"I was thinking of going with Scooby and Shaggy just to keep an eye on them," Patch said. "You still wanna come?"

"Yeah, who knows what trouble those two could get in around a place like this?" Cherry looked at the place. "I feel like I should know this place... It makes me think of a place that my mother told me about that she went to when she was a little girl."

"Mo and I will go with Fred, Daphne, and Velma." Atticus said.

"Okay, that'll do." Cherry agreed.

"Let's go!" Patch called as he walked ahead.

Cherry then followed the puppy.

"He did it again!" Fred whined which made Daphne and Velma roll their eyes at him.

* * *

"So, Cherry, you know this place?" Patch asked before they caught up with Shaggy and Scooby.

"I feel like I should..." Cherry said. "My grandparents were busy most of the time after they adopted my mother and her sister was getting married by the time she was born, so they had to send my mother to friends or family members... I think this is one of them."

"Cool." Patch smiled.

"It seems to match her descriptions and I have a photographic memory," Cherry said. "It inspired my gothic writing..."

"Ooh, there they are!" Patch found Scooby and Shaggy.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" Cherry called to them.

"Like, are you two joining us to help us search for clues?" Shaggy asked.

"Yeah... Sure..." Cherry shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets as always.

"Stay close..." Shaggy said, taking out a magnifying glass as they were coming through one hallway.

"Okay." Patch said.

Shaggy then mysteriously walked around with the glass.

"And I thought Atticus was over the top..." Cherry mumbled under her breath.

Scooby creaked one door open and decided to check it out. "Rearching for clues~..." he sang to himself as he investigated.

"You go with Shaggy, I'll be with Scooby." Patch said.

"You dogs do need to stick together..." Cherry understood as she left with the cowardly human in Mystery Inc.

Patch nodded, then came to the Great Dane's side. "Hey, Scooby, let me help ya find some clues."

"Rokay." Scooby smiled to him.

"But it might not be easy." Patch said.

"Reah..." Scooby agreed. He then found a safe that said 'SECRET: DO NOT OPEN'. "Raha! A clue!"

"That seems like it would be a possible place to keep a secret inside." Patch said.

However, Scooby stood up on his hind legs and took the sunglasses that were above the safe.

"Or you could find a clue to make yourself look cool..." Patch face-pawed.

* * *

While Scooby did that, Atticus and Mo were with the rest of the gang. There were glowing green footprints that were visible on the floor.

"Shiny footprints." Daphne noticed, she seemed much sharper in her detective work lately.

"I'm impressed, Daphne," Atticus smiled to her. "You seem more focused on solving mysteries lately than just looking your best or getting kidnapped."

"Well, I've matured since the last time." Daphne said.

"Still impressive." Atticus approved.

"That glow..." Velma looked at the footprints. "It's similar to the ptereodactyl ghost."

"Let's follow these footprints and see where they lead." Mo said.

"Good idea." Daphne agreed.

The footprints began to lead them to more stairs.

"We're getting warm." Mo diagnosed.

"They lead to his library." Atticus said.

"Should have the answers to what we need to know." Mo assumed.

"I think you're right." Atticus agreed.

Scooby and Patch kept exploring, though Scooby was looking through random items and calling them clues while Patch just rolled his eyes at the Great Dane, but was looking for real clues.

"Come on, there's gotta be a real clue around here somewhere." Patch said to himself while looking around.

Scooby opened one drawer and saw a private diary. However, he found a pair of white boxers with red hearts on them and wore them on his head like a hat. "A clue!"

"Steve on Blue's Clues has more common sense than you do..." Patch grumbled, a little frustrated and impatient with Scooby's goofball antics. The young Dalmatian then saw the private diary and found it more of a possible clue then what Scooby found.

"Well, it looks like Wickles shares Jacobo's fascination with the supernatural." Velma observed once they came up into the library to do further investigating.

"Yep, sure looks like it." Mo said.

Atticus began to look through the shelves of all the books until he finally found the book they were looking for.

"You sure you wanna do that?" Fred asked, remembering the doorbell incident.

"Yes." Atticus nodded before removing the book from the shelf.

And where to their luck, nothing bad happened. The others flinched, but grew relieved when nothing bad happened.

"So, is it the book we're looking for?" Mo asked.

"What is it?" Daphne asked.

Velma took a closer look at the book. "It's an obsolete Celtic text used by secret societies in the mid-19th century."

Atticus cracked the book open and there was a list of handwritten names on the front page.

"Look!" Daphne pointed to the final name on the list. "The book belonged to J. Jacabo, the original pterodactyl ghost."

"Maybe he gave it to Wickles before he died." Fred suggested.

"Being his cell mate, it would make sense." Atticus said.

* * *

Shaggy and Cherry were still looking for clues.

"Hey, Cherry, check this out," Shaggy said once he found a dusty old gramophone. "It looks like a giant record player."

"That's a gramophone, genius..." Cherry mumbled. "You have to crank it and then the sound comes out through the top."

Shaggy did just that to see if it still worked. Nothing happened. Shaggy tried again and leaned in. However, there was an explosion and suddenly a rap song blared through the horn. Cherry scratched the needle and took out the record to wave away the dust and smoke.

"Man, like, that thing hasn't been used in years." Shaggy coughed.

"You said it..." Cherry grunted. "Gah!"

* * *

Back in the library, the book was placed on a table.

"Can you read it?" Mo asked Velma or Atticus once they found the writing after the book was opened.

"It's an amalgamation of magic and science." Velma noted.

"In English terms, it means?" Mo asked.

"The action, process, or combining of something," Atticus explained to his girlfriend. "This basically balances magic and science, the two greatest rivals in the known universes."

"Right." Velma nodded to that as she looked further. "Here's a list of ingredients on how to create your own carbon-based organic, composite predators."

Mo looked to Atticus again.

"It's an instruction manual on how to create monsters!" Atticus said in slight worry.

"Oh," Mo said before getting worried. "Ohh..."

"Yeah..." Atticus nodded once.

Fred, Daphne, and Velma looked very worried and scared then.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile, back with Shaggy, Cherry, Scooby, and Patch..._**

"Scoob." Shaggy greeted his dog best friend once he saw him coming with the boxer shorts, sunglasses, and hat on, carrying a pile of useless junk.

"Clues!" Scooby said, dropping the stuff in the middle of the floor.

"Those aren't clues, Scoob," Shaggy sighed. "Those are just things you want!"

"Yeah, why would a toilet brush be a clue?" Cherry added once she saw the instrument in the pile.

"That's what I asked him when he grabbed it." Patch muffled, not getting any saliva over the diary he found.

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo~..." Scooby sang into the brush, acting like a blues singer. "Doo-Doo-Be-Dooby~..."

"Just 'cuz you can sing in it, Scoob, doesn't make it a clue..." Shaggy informed before laughing and singing with him. "It just makes it awesome!"

Cherry rolled her eyes, then bent down to Patch's height and took the book. "Whatcha got there, boy?"

"Wickles's diary," Patch replied. "I thought it'd be important."

"And you thought right, this could have some information that could be useful." Cherry smiled.

"Are you smiling?" Patch asked.

"Scoob, you got something on your paw..." Shaggy bent down and picked up a card. "'The Faux Ghost'?"

"It's a night club," Cherry explained as she looked collected Wickles's diary. "A lot of bad guys go there to hang out and talk about the heroes they despise."

"Wait, like, do you know what this means Cherry?" Shaggy asked.

Cherry paused a moment to think about it, then realized. "Patch, did you find this card?"

"No, I don't believe I have," Patch replied. "Atticus taught me how to read, I would've noticed that."

"Scooby, Shaggy, you guys found an actual clue!" Cherry told the cowardly duo.

This caused the four of them to celebrate. Shaggy and Scooby sang again and did a little dance together. However, the celebration wouldn't last long as Scooby accidentally ended up in a knight in armor's arms. There was deep, sinister chuckling that came with it. Scooby whimpered and screamed once he saw who he was with.

"Black Knight Ghost!" Shaggy pointed in fear and alarm.

"Let's see if this knight can stand a chance against a super-strong Dalmatian." Patch said before acting like a bull.

The Black Knight Ghost laughed. Scooby jumped out of his arms and the boxers fell off around him and ended up in the knight's face. Shaggy and Scooby only did what they did best: Run away like little girls.

"Hey, Knight! Let's see if you can handle a raging puppy with the strength of ten bulls." Patch glared.

The Black Knight Ghost glared down at Patch with glowing green eyes.

* * *

In the library, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Mo, and Atticus overheard the screaming and decided to get going right away. Patch began to charge right at The Black Knight Ghost like a bull. The Black Knight Ghost fell back slightly. Patch snarled viciously to him. Cherry decided to go after Shaggy and Scooby to help them. Patch then knocked The Black Knight Ghost into the wall before joining up with Cherry and the cowardly duo. Shaggy, Scooby, and Cherry were now running around, trying to block the door so the Black Knight Ghost couldn't get through and get them. Patch was able to get in before they started to block the door.

"Patch, thank goodness you're here, we heard you're as strong as Atticus," Shaggy said. "We got some heavy stuff here!"

"I'll handle those." Patch said as he went and lifted up a grandfather cuckoo clock.

"Good." Cherry said as she couldn't lift a whole lot.

Patch began to pile up all the heavy stuff in front of the door.

"Let's see him get through this!" Shaggy laughed as he did more handiwork with Scooby.

However, the Black Knight Ghost came through a different door and wielded his sword. Patch came over to grab another item until he saw The Black Knight Ghost and groaned should have known there would be a secret door.

"We outsmarted that moron!" Shaggy laughed.

Cherry glanced at the ghost. "Ooh, this is awkward..." she actually smiled, which was not a good sign.

"Reah!" Scooby grabbed a lampshade. "What a moron!"

"Guys, I think you should stop talking now." Patch said.

Shaggy took another object, unknowingly from the ghost. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome..." The Black Knight darkly replied.

Shaggy and Scooby then realized the Black Knight Ghost was with them which made them instantly scared.

"How did you know there was a secret door?" Patch asked the ghost.

"Never mind that, I would rather you all get 'cut up' in our discussion!" The Black Knight chuckled darkly as he brought out his sword.

Mo, Atticus, Fred, Daphne, and Velma rushed over and Fred held a shield.

"Yo, Metal Head!" Fred held up the shield. "Bring it!"

The Black Knight punched the sheild which also injured Fred

"He brought it..." Fred murmured before falling in the middle of the floor.

"I knew I should've held the shield..." Atticus groaned.

"Then why don't you take his place, knave?!" The Black Knight Ghost told him.

"Gladly..." Atticus smirked in determination.

"Atticus, hold him off!" Velma commanded.

Daphne checked to see if Fred was okay. Luckily for her, Fred was just unconscious.

"You got it, Velma." Atticus said as he picked up Fred's shield and got himself a sword.

"I'll look in the book," Velma said as she cracked the book open. "Maybe there's a formula for finding his weakness."

The Black Knight laughed as he challenged Atticus, but both weren't going down that easily, and where to The Black Knight Ghost's surprise, Atticus was a lot stronger than the ghost had thought he was. The ghost wasn't going to let him win though, he decided to taunt the boy with his advantages of being a ghost.

Atticus didn't let this get to him."Could really use that answer right about now, Velma."

"Here..." Velma found the instruction and tried to read it.

Daphne and Fred held each other as they tried to dodge with Velma and Atticus against the Black Knight Ghost.

"'To find the creature's weakest point, take the angle between the current position of the sun and your geographical point'..." Velma started to read as Atticus and the Black Knight were at it.

Atticus continued to fight off the ghost as he began to overpower the sword. " **VELMA!** "

"'Add this point 28 and a half feet up from sea level'..." Velma continued to read and maintain focus.

Atticus tried to stab the sword against the Black Knight.

The ghost just giggled in mild amusement. "That tickles!"

"This is bad." Daphne frowned.

"You got that right; I guess I should have known that he wouldn't have a stomach." Atticus said before pulling his sword back.

The Black Knight Ghost merely laughed in his face.

"I'm warning you, I got the same strength of a Greek god and the most powerful man in the universe." Atticus said sharply.

"Oh, really?" The Black Knight Ghost taunted. "Then try to overpower me by using your full strength!"

Atticus snarled. "You asked for this, Metal Head!"

The Black Knight Ghost laughed at his threats. "I always love a knave who thinks he can dare challenge superior like me!" But to his surprise, Atticus was able to overpower him in strength.

That still wasn't going to keep him down however.

"Give up!" Atticus demanded.

"Never!" the Black Knight Ghost laughed, despite being weaker in comparison, that still wouldn't stop him. "Maybe I should take your maiden as my own!"

This angered Atticus even more, overpowering the ghost, even more, not caring if he was being brutal to the ghost.

"'Take the square root of 30,869'..." Velma continued to read.

The Black Knight Ghost then made his sword fly and fight against Atticus's abilities. "Look, no hands!" he taunted the boy.

"Yeah, I don't care about that ghost." Atticus glared as he began to fight the floating sword.

"Any time would be great, Velma!" Daphne urged the smart girl to find the weakness, she knew Atticus was fine, but she was anxious for this ghost to be defeated.

"I'm trying!" Velma cried as she still read. "'Subtract one, divide by B, follow upward eight degrees north'...' she then realized what that meant and came in front of the ghost before kicking him right between his legs. "Which makes his greatest weak point right here!"

The Black Knight Ghost dropped his sword and grunted. "Right in the round tables..." he muttered in slight agony.

Atticus decided to kick the ghost in the same place only with full strength, sending The Black Knight Ghost into the ceiling. Fred crossed his legs slightly almost as if he felt that.

"RUN!" Velma told the others.

* * *

With that, they all decided to run out of the manor.

"Rin your race!" Scooby mocked the Black Knight Ghost as he ran with the others and shoved the lampshade on his head.

"Quickly, let's get back to your place." Mo said to the Mystery Inc gang.

They nodded in agreement to that as they made their great escape. Shaggy nearly shut the door before Scooby got out, but luckily, he did. Everybody returned to the meeting place and parked the Mystery Machine outside and they were officially back to work and business.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you okay, Atticus?" Mo asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Atticus assured her as they came inside. "I ain't afraid of no ghost... Especially a tough guy who tries to take me down. So, what do we do with our research, Velma?" he then asked the smart girl of Mystery Inc.

"I'm going to compare the glow of those footprints to the pterodactyl scale." Velma replied.

"Great." Atticus smiled.

"Well, we'll check Wickles's book." Fred suggested.

"Dude, the Faux Ghost is an awesome clue," Shaggy said to Patch, Cherry, and Scooby once it was just the four of them. "

"Reah." Scooby agreed.

"But, what do we do with it?" Shaggy then wondered.

"Check it out, and find some answers." Patch said.

"Reah, ret's rolve the rystery." Scooby agreed.

"I don't know, guys." Cherry said.

"Come on, Cherry..." Shaggy urged. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Are _you_ really going to call _me_ a chicken?" Cherry glanced at him like that was a stupid assumption.

"Come on, this could be the first time me and Scoob aren't screw-ups." Shaggy said.

"Reah!" Scooby nodded eagerly.

"Let's head to The Faux Ghost, find Wickles, and see what he knows," Shaggy devised. "But first, let's give the gang the old 'slipperooney'."

Cherry still felt unsure about being apart of this now.

"I don't know." Patch said.

"Come on, guys, this would be a good chance to show the gang we don't mess things up!" Shaggy insisted.

"Well, okay, but how are we gonna give them the slip?" Patch asked.

"Don't worry, I got an idea..." Shaggy said as he then found a can of whipped cream. "Come on, guys." he told the two dogs.

"Oh, boy." Patch groaned.

Shaggy sprayed the cream into the dogs' mouths to make them appear to be diseased.

Velma was looking to the scale, then looked to Shaggy and Scooby, having a sneaking suspicion they were up to something and wondered if she should maybe help them. "What're you guys doing?" she came up to Shaggy and whispered sharply to him.

"Oh, uh, Velma, like, what a surprise..." Shaggy chuckled nervously to her.

Velma folded her arms with a smirk. "What's going on?"

"We found a clue that leads to a night club and we're wanting to give the others the slip." Patch told her.

Shaggy and Scooby looked down to Patch.

"I better come with you..." Velma said rather quickly, then cleared her throat. "Um, I mean... Ya know... Just so you all don't get hurt or anything..."

"Well... Umm... We, wanted to solve this ourselves, but..." Shaggy said, he found himself unable to say no to her, so he gave in. "Oh, what the heck?"

"Are you going too?" Velma asked Cherry.

"Something's telling me to stay here..." Cherry said. "I'll look after the pterodactyl scale for you."

"Okay." Velma said.

Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, and Patch walked by then as Cherry was wandering around for a little while.

"Hey, guys," Shaggy greeted the gang. "The dogs are kinda feeling... Uh..."

"They have rabies," Velma quickly covered up. "I'll take care of them."

"But what about the pterodactyl scale?" Daphne asked her.

"Don't worry; I'll look after the Pterodactyl scale for her." Cherry smiled.

"Well... Okay..." Daphne shrugged.

With that, Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, and Patch left the scene.

Cherry went to check out the scale. "Uh, did you guys find out anything yet?" she asked since she wasn't there when Velma started to work.

"We found this book that has instructions on how to create your own monsters." Mo said.

Atticus and Mo took a look at the scale readings.

"Whoa!" Atticus cried.

"What's up, Atticus?" Fred asked.

"The analysis of the pterodactyl scale," Atticus replied. "It contains randamonium."

"Which is what exactly?" Mo asked.

Atticus took out the book and skimmed through it. "According to the book, it says it's the critical ingredient needed to make monsters." he explained once he found the page to explain it.

"Ohh." Mo said.

"Doesn't randamonium glow, like those footprints in Wickles' mansion?" Fred asked.

"That's right." Atticus said.

"If we prove Wickles is behind this, this mystery goes down like a dot-com and Coolsville digs us again." Fred replied with hope.

"Where would he get randamonium?" Mo asked.

"Randamonium is a byproduct of Silver Mines," Atticus explained. "Like the abandoned mining town in old Coolsville."

"So, that's where we should go then." Mo smiled.

The doorbell then rang.

Cherry went over to the door and checked to see who it was and she grew uncharacteristically nervous which made the others stare at her since they had never seen her like this before. "I'm invisible, I'm invisible, get rid of him! Keep him busy!" she got on the floor and crawled nervously away from the door.

"I'm having the sneaky suspicion that the one at the door is Patrick." Atticus smirked.

"What are you doing?" Daphne asked Cherry.

"He wants to take me out for the night!" Cherry squeaked as she nearly forgot all about that.

"It's okay to be scared..." Daphne decided to join her to comfort her.

"I'm not scared..." Cherry angrily pouted. "I've fought werewolves, ghosts, and a whole lot more!" She began to crawl into the lab so she wouldn't be seen by the older guy that wanted to go on a date with her.

"I think he's trying to ask you out..." Daphne said.

"I'm way too young for him!" Cherry tried to defend herself.

"Maybe, but that doesn't seem to bother him." Daphne brought up.

"I don't think so..." Cherry tried to get away from Daphne.

"Cherry, have you ever considered the adventures you've had in your life are just distractions to keep you away from what really frightens you?" Daphne prompted. "Intimacy with another person? ... Hmm?"

"I'm not ready for a relationship and I don't think I ever will be..." Cherry looked away from the redhead.

"Oh, come on, yes, you will; you just never tried dating yet." Daphne said.

"Have you considered maybe I don't want to start dating?" Cherry narrowed her eyes.

"It would be best for you," Daphne encouraged. "Everybody dates and forms healthy relationships... I suggest you get out of that dark and gloomy comfort zone of yours and give it a try."

"Uhh..." Cherry tried to avoid it, but Daphne was not going to leave her alone. The perky goth looked out the glass to see Patrick talking with Atticus, Fred, and Mo.

"Do you like this guy?" Daphne asked.

"I feel strange around him, but I can't explain it..." Cherry shrugged. "I do feel a little warm and wet though..."

"You must feel nervous then." Daphne said.

"Hm..." Cherry pouted.

"Here, let me take care of you and make you look more presentable!" Daphne took Cherry's hand and pulled her.

Cherry yelped as she was dragged, forcing herself to follow her.

* * *

"Do you think it was wise to leave Cherry alone with Daphne?" Mo whispered to Atticus.

Atticus shrugged in silence. Their question was soon answered as Cherry came in the room, looking different.

"Who's that?" Mo asked, not recognizing Cherry at first since she had make-up on and wore a light blue leather outfit.

"I think that's Cherry." Atticus said, even unsure himself.

"Uhh..." Fred blinked.

"Cherry?" Patrick asked.

"Who's your mommy?" Cherry asked, attempting to sound mature and flirty at the same time.

"Okay, what did Daphne do to Cherry?" Mo whispered.

"Girl stuff..." Atticus shrugged while Patrick looked overwhelmed and confused at Cherry's changed behavior.

"Let's solve a mystery..." Cherry leaned against Patrick.

"Um, then let's get going." Mo said.

"Uh, Cherry, do you have to go to the bathroom?" Patrick asked Cherry.

"No... Not in this outfit..." Cherry looked uncomfortable slightly as she walked side-by-side with him.

Patrick opened the back door of the Mystery Machine and allowed Cherry to go inside first before him.

"Daphne, what did you do?" Mo asked.

"I thought I'd give Cherry a helping hand with her problem." Daphne shrugged innocently.

"Okay, but how did you get her into that outfit?" Mo asked.

"Uh, it's really complicated..." Daphne chuckled nervously.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting night." Atticus said.

"For sure..." Daphne looked innocent.

"Hopefully tonight won't have any more surprises." Mo said.

They all made it into the Mystery Machine, though Cherry had some trouble due to her rubbery outfit. She was thinking maybe she should've gone with Shaggy and the others, but it was too late. Oh, well, maybe Shaggy and Velma could start their relationship together this way.

* * *

Shaggy, Scooby, Patch, and Velma were on their way to the Faux Ghost.

"I must admit, it was impressive of you guys to find a clue on your own." Velma said to Shaggy and Scooby as she was adjusting her new outfit, hiding from the guys though so she wouldn't let them see anything she did not want them to see.

"Trust me, I was impressed as well when they first found it." Patch smiled.

"You almost set there, Velma?" Shaggy asked as he adjusted his hat.

"Just a minute!" Velma called back. "Be thankful Daphne's not with you."

Shaggy let out a chuckle. "Yeah, by the time she'd be ready, the night would be over."

"Okay... Here I come..." Velma stepped out, she wore a wig that made her hair appear short and she had white crystal earrings, a golden necklace with charms around it, a slender orange strapless and backless dress and she wore white short heels. "Well, how do I look?"

"Like, I don't think your own mother would recognize you, Velma." Shaggy said.

"Thanks..." Velma chuckled sheepishly. "You don't look bad yourself... Unfortunately I have to keep my glasses, I can't see a thing without them."

"Like, that's alright, Velma, besides, we don't want you to bump into anyone." Shaggy said.

Velma nodded in agreement, she then looked to Scooby and cupped her mouth.

"Rhat?" Scooby asked.

"Scooby, seriously?" Velma gestured to his disguise which was a very stereotypical 1970's disco outfit with a collared shirt, bell bottom pants, sunglasses, and an Afro wig.

"I rhink it rooks rood on re." Scooby said.

"Like, Patch, come on out, and let us see your disguise." Shaggy said.

"Okay, here I come!" Patch called as he then accessed his human form from his dog tag and medallion.

After a brief glow, Patch came out in his human form.

"How do I look?" Patch asked.

The others looked to Patch as he wore an outfit like in the 1980's. He wore a shiny black jacket with a white undershirt, blue jeans, and black dress shoes and had a hat like Shaggy's, only black.

"Not too bad, not too flashy, but not suspicious either..." Velma approved.

"Thanks, I put a lot of thought into this." Patch smiled.

"Shall we go then?" Velma asked.

* * *

With that, Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, and Patch then went off to the Faux Ghost as there were various old foes from the past going inside to have a good time and talk about their bad times which was good for them.

"Wow, there sure are a lot of bad guys/woman here." Patch whispered.

"That's it, guys," Shaggy said. "The Faux Ghost."

"Jinkies..." Velma shivered slightly. "I recognize a lot of these folks."

"Are some of these folks some of the people you guys have unmasked?" Patch asked.

"You bet..." Shaggy said as they examined a few familiar faces. "Like, that's C.L. Magnus. He used to dress up as Redbeard's ghost. And that's Aggie Wilkins, AKA the Ozark Witch."

"Yikes." Patch said.

"If they spot us, we'll be invited to a weenie roast and we'll be the weenies." Shaggy shuddered about that possibility.

"And which means we'll most likely get killed." Velma explained.

The disguised group then walked into the night club.

"Everyone part like the Red Sea," Shaggy bust in, trying to act cool. "It's me, Shizzy McCreepy, and my brother, S.D. McCrawley!"

"What are our alias names?" Patch whispered.

"Uh, I dunno..." Shaggy whispered back with a shrug.

"Uh, yeah, and I'm Shizzy's lady friend..." Velma did her best to blend in as well. "Vendetta, and we have our young associate, Patchington."

"Well, it's better than nothing." Patch whispered before bumping into a large and muscular man.

"Hey, kiddo." The man laughed.

"Hey, big guy," Patch said, looking up. "Did I say big? I meant large and I mean like human-sized giant large."

The man laughed and folded his arms. "Aren't ya a little too young to be in a place like this?"

Patch glared at him before lifting up the human giant by his right foot and was now holding him up in the air. "You were saying?" He then asked with a smirk.

"Uhh..." the man wasn't sure what else to say. "Enjoy your stay."

"Okay!" Patch said before dropping him, but luckily, didn't make it aftershock everybody in the club.

"Hello, handsome..." a woman purred to Scooby.

"Rello, baby..." Scooby greeted back, trying to sound suave.

"Hey, kid!" The human giant said before going over to Patch.

"Yes, what now?" Patch asked.

The human giant slapped his back with full strength, liking this kid already. Patch barely reacted, but was surprised.

"Welcome to the team..." the human giant chuckled. "Would ya like to play a game?"

"What games do you have?" Patch asked.

"Well, there's knife throwing," the human giant pointed to one game where photos of the Mystery Inc gang were on targets and the people threw knives at them. "And then there's the classic whacking game..." he then showed a Whack-A-Mole like game where the heads of Mystery Inc popped up and down and they had to be beat down.

"How about arm wrestling?" Patch suggested.

"If ya think you can take me on... "the human giant chuckled. "Ya probably can... Sheesh, what's a little kid like you doin' in a bad place like this, huh?"

"Let's just say I'm here on business." Patch said.

"So I see..." the human giant chuckled once he found a clear table for them.'

Patch sat across from him and took his hand so they could start.

* * *

"Watch out, idiot!" A man scolded Shaggy as he accidentally bumped into him in the bar.

Shaggy and Velma glanced to the man and recognized him instantly. "Old Man Wickles..." they both whispered together in shock and fear.

"Okay, Shaggy, just stay calm, and everything should be alright." Velma whispered.

Shaggy nodded, trying to keep up appearances. Scooby sniffed a pickled egg jar and tried to eat some.

"Leave me alone!" Wickles glared, looking like a grouchy old grump.

"I just, uh, I just wanted to say thank you," Shaggy spoke to the old man anyway. "Your portrayal of the Black Knight Ghost was, like, inspirational to my brother and me."

"Me too and our little buddy Patchington too." Velma added.

Wickles merely glared at them in firm and stoic silence.

"Hey, have you done anything creepy and cool lately?" Shaggy asked, trying to make conversation.

Wickles glanced, but that got him to talk. "Listen, I'm not normally one for giving advice, except for an old friend of mine, rest his soul, he died just before his younger daughter graduated from high school, she was like a niece to me... But, I feel sorry for you because of your brother's huge, hideous nose deformity."

"Ruh?" Scooby glanced at his nose.

"There's nothing wrong with your nose, Scooby." Velma whispered to him.

"Get out of this game while you got a chance." Wickles then quietly advised to Shaggy. "All of us here ain't nuthin' to admire."

Shaggy and Velma then looked curiously to him.

"We needed people to believe we were different than they were," Wickles continued, looking rather emotional for a moment. "Maybe 'cuz... We believed that there was something wrong with who we were in the first place."

That truly got Shaggy into thinking that maybe Mr. Wickles wasn't so bad after all. "I guess you're sorta grateful to, um, Mystery Inc for unmasking you...?" he then asked, taking off his hat briefly.

"Are you kidding?!" Wickles grew angry then and grabbed a handful of peanuts in the bowl in front of them and crushed them in his hand. "If I see those twerps or those little friends who they hang out with nowadays that go on adventures all the time, I'd tear their eyes out of their skulls and make them eat the one eye while watching themselves eat it with the other eye!"

Scooby whimpered from that.

 _'Jinkies...'_ Velma thankfully said in her head so she wouldn't be exposed.

However, after that aggressive and vulgar threat, Old Man Wickles laughed. This caused for Shaggy and Velma to join in, only forceful.

* * *

While that went on, Patch and the human giant were arm wrestling and where the large man began to put everything he had into trying to putting Patch's arm down on the table or even on the floor.

"Give up." Patch said.

"Never..." the human giant laughed, he might had been losing, but he was having a lot of fun.

"Really?" Patch playfully asked.

"Yep." The human giant grunted.

"So, why are you here?" Patch asked. "Did the Mystery Inc gang unmask you or something?"

"I don't really belong anywhere..." the human giant frowned. "I just came here because I was hoping to maybe make a friend... Sounds silly, huh?"

"No, it sounds like you might be a bit lonely, especially with your size and strength." Patch said.

"I really am..." The human giant replied. "When I was around your age, no one really wanted to be my friend... They all ran away and screamed... They acted like I was a monster and they all ran away before they can even get to know me."

"Well, I'm glad to get to know you now... I didn't get your name." Patch said.

"I call myself Bowser." The man smiled, looking slightly bashful then.

"Bowser? Cool name, how about as a nickname you can go by 'The Human Giant'? Patch said.

"Human giant? Hmm... Very creative." Bowser smiled.

"Ya like that?" Patch asked.

"I'll take it into consideration." Bowser chuckled.

"Cool," Patch said. "Okay, I think that's long enough, you know, of holding this pose."

"All right..." Bowser laughed and stopped himself.

 _'I should tell him the truth.'_ Patch thought to himself.

"I'm gonna get a drink, you want anything?" Bowser said as he helped himself up to his feet.

"Sure," Patch said before he saw Scooby going onto the dance floor. "Oh, no."

Bowser went to get a drink.

"I better warn Shaggy and Velma." Patch whispered.

A 70's song came on as a human woman invited Scooby to dance. Scooby had fun, even though he seemed to bark along with the song. Patch began to look for Shaggy and Velma.

"At least _they're_ having fun..." Velma said as she walked with Shaggy.

"Yeah, wonder what's going on..." Shaggy agreed, he then looked and his eyes widened in horror.

"I finally found you two, we've got trouble." Patch told Shaggy and Velma.

"Rahoo!" Scooby cheered as he was now crowd-surfing.

"Like, I can see that..." Shaggy shivered.

Scooby got up to his feet again and danced very wildly that was accidentally shaking his wig and glasses off. Shaggy, Velma, and Patch tried to make him stop shaking since it was making his disguise come loose, but Scooby mistook it for dance moves which made the other party people copy him.

"This can't end well." Patch said, face-palmed.

Scooby waved his head back which made his wig fly off and splash against a man's food which splashed in his face. The Great Dane kept singing along and everyone else stopped with the music cut and they stared at him once they realized who he really was.

"Hey, it's Scooby-Doo!" One man called out sharply. "That meddling mutt what helped threw us in jail!"

"Who, me?" Scooby got nervous. "Ruh-ruh!"

"No, wait, that's not Scooby-Doo!" Shaggy rushed over to save his best friend. "That's... Um... S.D. McCrawley!"

"Yeah, that's just his disguise." Velma added in, even if it didn't sound convincing.

"It's a mask!" Shaggy added, stretching Scooby's face.

"Reah!" Scooby agreed.

The two then pulled apart and spread their arms out which accidentally made Shaggy's hat fly off.

"Oh, boy..." Velma shook her head.

"What else can go wrong?" Patch groaned.

"And that's Doo's beatnik best pal, Shaggy Rogers!" Another man pointed out.

Patch then changed back into his original form without noticing it. Bowser came back with two drinks with a smile, then looked in shock to see Patch was actually a Dalmatian.

"RUN!" Patch told Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.

* * *

With that, they ran away into the crowd. Bowser watched them go and he frowned, looking rather angry. The good guys ran to what was a garbage chute and used it as their escape. Bowser then came from the crowd and saw Patch struggling to get in and join them, but he picked the puppy up. Patch shivered and looked nervous.

"You need a boost, little fella?" Bowser smiled sincerely to him.

"I sure do, big guy, but you do realize that sense you're helping me they're gonna want to get you and possibly kill you, right?" Patch asked.

"It'll be worth it to help my new and first friend..." Bowser replied.

"Great, but then that means you're coming with." Patch said as he brought Bowser with him down the garbage chute.

Bowser laughed, going down with no hesitation. The bad guys watched them escape and looked to each other. The others yelled out as they were then landing right into the dumpster.

"Incoming!" Patch called out.

"Huh?" Shaggy and Scooby looked back.

Patch and Bowser crashed next.

"That was awesome!" Bowser laughed. "Let's go again! Oh, please, please, can we go again?" he then asked, pleading like a child.

"We would, but I don't think those guys will let us in, and besides, we still got a mystery to solve." Patch said.

"Aww..." Bowser pouted.

"Uh, what's with, like, the muscle guy?" Shaggy asked.

"This is Bowser, he's our new friend," Patch said. "By the way, Bowser; did you let me win those times or were you only using half of your strength?"

"To tell you the truth, I was only using half of my strength." Bowser said.

"I knew it." Patch said.

"So, you're a puppy, huh?" Bowser then asked.

"Long story..." Patch replied. "I'll tell ya when we have more time."

"Ya know guys, that really wasn't so bad." Shaggy said as they were in the trash and Scooby found an old fish bone.

"Wanna bet?" Velma looked up.

More garbage bags piled on top of them all then.

"Let's get out of here before more garbage is thrown down." Patch muffled.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Mystery Machine, Cherry and Patrick sat next to each other. Cherry was feeling super uncomfortable in her new outfit. This made Patrick uncomfortable as well.

 _'This isn't going well at all.'_ Mo thought to herself.

Daphne kept a smile, but even she could tell this was not going as she planned.

Cherry then squeaked slightly, then looked to the older man. "That was my outfit, I swear..."

 _'Let's hope so.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

Cherry felt stupid right now as she was sitting next to Patrick in uncomfortable and awkward silence.

"Well, this is awkward." Mo said.

"Thanks, Mo..." Cherry mumbled under her breath, that made it feel even worse.

"Uh, Cherry?" Patrick turned to her.

"Hm?" Cherry turned back.

"You look nice tonight..." Patrick siad.

Cherry looked away from him and held her face as she felt herself becoming instantly warm.

"Cherry, don't you wanna say something nice back at Patrick?" Atticus asked.

"Mm..." Cherry's lips were sealed shut.

 _'This isn't going at all like I planned.'_ Daphne thought to herself.

"Uh... Lovely weather we're having?" Cherry said, a bit nervous.

 _'This might get awkward.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

* * *

Eventually, Cherry came back in after a while.

"How did it go?" Atticus asked.

"I don't know what it is, but something about that guy bugs me..." Cherry said. "I feel like he's hiding something."

"You sure?" Atticus asked.

"Something's up... There has to be..." Cherry said as she then went to change out of the outfit that Daphne gave her and went behind a changing panel, feeling relieved and came back out in her more comfortable clothes. "Anyway, how was that Club of Villains or whatever?"

Atticus soon told her what he heard from Patch.

"Sounds crazy... Kinda wish I could've been there..." Cherry shrugged. "At least you made a new friend."

"Such a cute puppy..." Bowser smiled as he walked off in the background, holding Patch as he was sweet inside even though he was big and tough on the outside.

Patch smiled as Bowser were their friend now.

"If he starts hugging people, I'm walking." Cherry told Atticus.

"Aw, don't be like that." Atticus teased.

Cherry simply rolled her eyes. Police cars and the news van rushed outside.

"Whoa, what's that all about?" Bowser wondered as he soon set Patch down on the floor.

"Not sure." Atticus said.

"Come on." Fred told them from inside the Mystery Machine.

They all went in the van and rode after the police cars and the news van.

* * *

Heather was interviewing people and looked over as Mystery Inc came to the scene of the crime.

"Just ignore her." Mo told the others.

"Any comments on the museum robbery?" Heather asked Fred once she saw him.

"Mystery Inc. is investigating the two stolen costumes." Fred told her.

"No, the one that just happened," Heather rolled her eyes slightly. "Where The Black Knight and Pterodactyl Ghost stole the rest of the costumes?"

"Uh... Rest of the costumes?" Mo asked.

Velma soon rushed inside and took a look as the museum had changed since the last time they were in there.

"So, what you're saying is it's all downhill for Mystery Inc?" Heather asked Fred.

"No! You can't do this to us!" Cherry glared as she stepped in. "You're trying to make it sound like we're saying we think that Coolsville sucks!"

This caused Patch, Mo, and Atticus to go face-palm.

"No... Wait... I mean..." Cherry stammered as she felt stupid right now. "Don't record that!"

"Thanks, Cherry..." Fred sighed.

"Get the camera!" Mo exclaimed.

Heather and her news crew soon ran off.

"GET BACK HERE, HEATHER JASPER-HOWE!" Cherry demanded. "Atticus, get her!"

Atticus soon went after Heather.

* * *

Somehow, Heather's interview with Fred and Cherry was already on with what she said about 'Coolsville sucking' which just made Cherry feel worse.

"I open my mouth... And in goes my foot..." Cherry mumbled.

"Why would you put your foot in your mouth?" Patch asked. "Can people do that?"

"No, no, Patch," Atticus said. "That just means when someone says something stupid that they don't mean to say."

"Ohh." Patch said, understanding.

"Cherry just happens to suffer from the worst cases of it." Atticus said.

"Ugh... Can this get any worse?" Cherry groaned as she covered her eyes.

Daphne frowned to Cherry and looked firm towards the blonde woman and walked towards her, and she soon stormed over towards her. "I'll be right back."

"D-Daphne...?" Cherry asked as she sat up, a bit nervously since Daphne was a lot more assertive, especially from the Spooky Island adventure.

* * *

"What's with the personal attacks?" Daphne demanded as Heather signed off.

"Look, I'm a huge fan," Heather said. "It's just my editor-"

"Who are you kidding?" Daphne cut her off crudely.

Heather knew that acting nice wouldn't work. "Who are _you_ kidding?" she then tried to retort.

Daphne just glanced at her with a sharply raised eyebrow.

"Don't think I don't know your game," Heather said to her. "What do you do for the gang, really? Velma's the smart one, Fred's the leader, all you are is a pretty little face."

Cherry could already tell Heather was trying to get to Daphne.

"Why are you doing this?" Daphne frowned.

"Because it's my job to unmask those who pretend to be who they're not." Heather coldly replied as she soon bent down to get ready to leave.

Daphne recognized what Heather said. Cherry narrowed her eyes as Daphne began to talk down Heather.

"You sound like..." Daphne muttered.

"Sound like who?" Heather replied innocently.

"The evil masked guy," Daphne glared. "But you know that, because just as you know I'm standing here, you know I know who you know you are, which is him, who's a her, which is you."

Cherry was confused by that, but also had a feeling Heather was the masked guy.

"Now I see what you do for the gang," Heather said to Daphne. "You're in charge of incoherent babbling."

"Mystery Incorporated," The masked man soon returned at the top of the museum which made everyone gather around and look up at him. "Once again, you are proven useless before my power. Because of you, soon Coolsville... Will be mine."

"What the heck?!" Cherry gasped as she looked up at the masked man and then at Heather, feeling confused again.

"Oh, darn it!" Heather cursed. "Thanks a lot! The scoop of the night, gone. Can't you do anything right? Ned, get your camera and follow me."

"Guess not..." Daphne muttered as that hurt her.

Cherry frowned as she felt bad for Daphne.

"Uh, thanks for sticking up for me..." Cherry said as she came out beside Daphne.

"No problem," Daphne smiled. "Come on, we better get you guys home."

"Um, okay." Cherry said.

"You gonna be okay, Cherry?" Atticus asked.

"I just can't believe I walked right into that..." Cherry sighed. "I should've just stayed here and shut up."

"Don't blame yourself, that woman was just luring you in." Bowser said.

"Uh, thanks, Guy." Cherry replied.

"His name's Bowser." Patch reminded.

"Oh... Uh... Thanks, Bowser..." Cherry said before smirking. "You kidnap Princess Peach?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" Bowser asked, not getting the joke.

Cherry gave a glance as Bowser didn't seem as smart as he did sweet.

He soon caught on to why everyone kept on asking him that. "Ohh, it's because of those video games." Bowser said before laughing.

Cherry sighed sharply, feeling like she was in long-suffering.

"Wait, where did Patrick go?" Mo asked.

"I dunno," Cherry shrugged. "After we spent some time together, he left... I thought maybe he went to the museum with Velma or something."

"Let's go find him... Just to make sure." Patch suggested.

"Yes." Atticus nodded in agreement.

"All right, it might be necessary." Cherry shrugged.


	6. Chapter 6

And with that, they all went to track down Patrick as he seemed to disappear, and soon, they stopped as they heard his voice, but he sounded a bit angry with someone. " **STOP WASTING MY TIME, DO YOU HEAR ME?!** "

They soon followed the source of his voice.

"Now I want you to question all your scum-bucket friends," Patrick glared at a man, seeming to shove him against a wall. "Find out what they know about those stolen costumes. Or else you'll be known as the Soiled Underwear Ghost! I want answers. Now, go! Now!"

"Y-Yes, sir, yes, sir..." Another man stammered and soon walked off out of fear.

"I think we better go before he sees us." Mo whispered.

"I wonder why he's here though?" Patch whispered back.

Patrick soon dusted himself clean and noticed the others. "Atticus, Mo, Patch... What are you guys doing here?" he then asked as he slid his glasses back on.

"Oh, uh, just taking Patch for a walk," Atticus covered up. "You know, dogs need their walks..."

Patch nodded.

"But then we heard you yelling at that guy." Mo said.

"Well, you know, my museum got broken into again, so I had to come here and try and get some answers," Patrick replied innocently with a light chuckle. "Gotta put on the tough-guy act, or these guys will eat me alive."

"Ohh." Atticus, Patch, and Mo said, understanding.

"You believe me, right?" Patrick asked, sounding grimly serious.

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course... Uh..." Mo stammered, a bit nervously.

"I'm kidding!" Patrick then laughed. "I'm kidding, that's the thing, that's the tough guy act."

"Oh, right." Mo smiled nervously.

A certain man was seen walking off in the background.

"Well, um, Patrick, this was nice and all, but we gotta get going." Atticus told him after seeing the man.

"Yeah, we really need to go." Patch said.

"Okay..." Patrick said, a bit suspiciously, but then walked off to let them go.

"Come on." Atticus told Mo and Patch before they went off.

Patrick looked at them and went on his own way.

* * *

Atticus, Mo, and Patch walked off together as they followed the man who was none other than Old Man Wickles as he walked into the Mining Company, not aware that he had been followed, and where Bowser included himself. Mo sniffled and tried not to sneeze as they hid in the bushes. Atticus soon helped her with that.

"Man, it's like a ghost town over there..." Patch whispered to himself.

"Ooh, ghosts are creepy..." Bowser frowned.

They soon saw some more bushes moving, telling them that Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma were there.

"Guys, call me crazy, but I think we're being followed." Bowser said.

"Not surprised..." Patch sighed.

Shaggy and Scooby even took out tin cans to talk to each other as they were in separate bushes.

"What's with the tin cans?" Velma whispered to Shaggy.

"So we can talk." Shaggy frowned.

"But Scooby is right there!" Velma whispered loudly.

Atticus and the others soon snuck over to them.

"Rello, Raggy and Relma." Scooby smiled.

"Wickles has led us into a terrifying ghost town!" Shaggy told him.

"Rhost Rown?" Scooby asked before he soon yelled out at the mention of ghosts.

Patch soon covered his muzzle once their bushes were close enough.

"Darn bushes yowling at me again." Wickles muttered to himself before going on.

They soon got out of the bushes and continued to sneak after the old man to see what was going on.

"Now, Scooby, you have to be quiet." Velma told the Great Dane.

"Please, because we don't wanna get caught." Patch begged.

"Rokay, ruys." Scooby replied.

They soon came in to explore, but Wickles didn't seem to be found anywhere.

"Like, where did Old Man Nutjob go?" Shaggy wondered.

"Not sure." Atticus said.

They came to sneak inside the mysterious place to look out for anything suspicious. Eventually, something strange came out with them that wasn't there before and it appeared to be a monster.

"Whoa!" Mo yelped.

Shaggy and the monster both screamed at each other and fell. The monster tried to go after them, but fell on the floor and seemed to fall apart.

"Quick, run!" Patch told them.

"Run, guys, it's a 'skelly' thing!" Shaggy added in panic.

They soon ran away from the unusual monster to avoid trouble. Scooby tripped and fell over, accidentally latching onto a lever which pulled down and it opened a secret door.

"Quick, before the door closes!" Mo told them.

They soon rushed through that door and came into an elevator, and went down.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Mystery Machine seemed to appear at the secret place.

"Where are we?" Cherry asked.

"The Coolsville Mine..." Fred said to her.

"Hmm... I bet that masked guy got his stuff from here, I have a feeling about it." Cherry guessed.

"Fred?" Daphne frowned. "Do you think I'm just a pretty face?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, not fat!" Fred stammered. "Definitely not fat. Is this sort of what you're looking for?"

"Oh, man, stop talking!" Cherry begged as this was just making things worse for them. "Please just stop because if you keep talking, it'll get worse."

"Fat?" Daphne frowned to Fred. "Why would you even use that word?"

"I'm staying out of this." Cherry muttered.

Fred soon looked over and came towards the window as he saw Old Man Wickles talking with someone. Cherry soon came over to the window and saw what he saw.

"Never again will they underestimate us," Old Man Wickles told the men with him. "That's right. I've gathered you here today for something big. At last. All these years of careful planning have culminated in this one glorious moment."

 _'So he's the man in the mask.'_ Cherry thought to herself.

"Aha!" Fred yelled out as he soon came with the others. "Old Man Wickles, caught red-handed in your foul monster-making scheme. With your ugly, evil henchmen."

The others stepped out of the shadows, revealing to be plain old men in suits.

"Henchmen?" One man replied. "Young man, we're investors, and we're listening to his pitch. Shhh."

"What the-?" Cherry asked out of confusion.

"So as I was saying, the Old Tyme Mining Town, a summer camp for kids where they can have an authentic mining experience," Old Man Wickles told his investors, showing them a model. "They can dig for eighteen hours straight, just like in the golden days of yore. They have the time of their lives, and we get free miners!"

"Oh, he cannot be serious..." Cherry grumbled. "That's worse than Camp Learn-a-Torium!"

"Shh!" The men shushed her.

"Hmph," Cherry pouted. "All right... Mr. Wickles, we need to ask you a few questions... I know you have something to do with these monster attacks."

"I don't know nothing about no monsters." Old Man Wickles defended.

"Then how come there was randamonium on the floor of your mansion?" Daphne asked.

"There's randamonium all over the place," Old Man Wickles explained. "I come home with it in my shorts."

"Oh..." Cherry said.

"Are you continuing the work of your old pal Jonathan Jacobo?" Fred then asked.

"Old pal? _Jacobo_? We hated each other," Old Man Wickles replied. "In the prison cafeteria, he used to steal my Tater Tots! And he got the lead in My Fair Lady."

"This is now getting awkward." Cherry said.

"Anything else?" Old Man Wickles asked.

"Uh, well, any reason why there was a monster book at your place?" Cherry asked, feeling nervous to even ask.

"Wait a second... You're the runts what vandalized my home," Old Man Wickles said. "Which one of you stole my toilet brush?"

This now seemed like a waste of time for the men. Old Man Wickles tried to get them to stay and soon glared at the others.

"Ay..." Cherry sighed as this felt embarrassing and unfortunate. "I hope Atticus and the others are having better luck."

* * *

Meanwhile, the elevator kept on going for a while.

"Wowee, you guys!" Shaggy beamed. "I think we're onto something. It's like a huge laboratory."

They soon came to explore, but as soon as they left the elevator, it went up without them.

"Well, there goes our way up." Patch said.

"Jinkies... There's so many chemicals..." Velma said as they explored.

"Yeah, this place is like Clue-topia!" Shaggy added.

"We better not mess with any of them; we don't know what might happen." Atticus said.

Scooby passed by what looked like a mirror, but then saw a handle and stood up on his hind legs to open it. "Refrigerator! Lemonade!" He then took out a beaker filled with a yellow liquid.

"Scooby, no, you shouldn't-" Patch tried to stop him.

Scooby soon took a taste anyway of the yellow stuff.

"Drink that..." Patch finished with a face-paw. "Oi..."

"Check it out," Shaggy smiled before turning around to his best friend. "Look at those weird letters, Scoob."

"Hmm..." Velma hummed as she knew those letters had to be important.

"Raggy?" Scooby asked as he soon turned around and was now changed into a monster.

"Scooby, what did you do?" Patch groaned.

"He found something in that fridge and drank out of it." Patch rolled his eyes.

"You don't eat stuff that glows," Shaggy told Scooby. "Like, there's got to be an antidote in here somewhere."

"You're right, there has to." Mo said.

"Here. Try this, Scoob," Shaggy offered, giving Scooby a beaker with a dark blue one. "It looks medicinal."

Scooby then tried some while Shaggy saw some on his fingers and licked it off.

"Hmm... Tastes like strawberries..." Shaggy commented.

"I don't think that might the antidote." Mo said.

"I'm okay, guys." Shaggy said as he soon looked down at his reflection and saw that he had a woman's body now.

"That's disturbing..." Patch muttered.

"Yes, yes, it is." Mo said.

"I got a chick's body!" Shaggy exclaimed.

Scooby then appeared to be transformed into a certain Looney Tune.

"Whoa, Scooby turned into The Tasmanian Devil!" Patch gasped.

"Quick, next vial!" Mo panicked.

"I knew this would happen." Patch sighed and shook his head.

"Oh, these aren't labeled..." Velma frowned as she looked at the vials before taking two out for Shaggy and Scooby. "Try these two."

Shaggy and Scooby took them and suddenly changed again.

"Oh, that didn't work." Velma frowned.

"Check it out, dude!" Shaggy laughed as he flexed his arms. "I'm buff."

"My God. It seems as if I've become ludicrously intelligent," Scooby spoke perfectly normal and intelligently, almost like a scientist. "It's awful! I long for the blissful ignorance of my former self. Chasing cats, licking my own rear end, eating my own vomit. Oh,those were wonderful times."

"Uh, yeah." Atticus said.

"Check out my pecs, little man!" Shaggy smirked to Atticus.

"Oi." Atticus groaned with a face-palm.

"I really like the old Shaggy better." Velma pouted.

"So do we..." Patch agreed as he looked through the chemicals.

"Please, allow me." Scooby said as he took some chemicals, responsibly.

"What are you doing with those?" Mo asked.

"This is a highly combustible synthesis." Scooby replied.

"A what...?" Shaggy asked.

"He's going to change you guys back to normal." Velma said.

"Atticus, you might wanna keep Shaggy from stopping Scooby." Patch said.

"No way, geek!" Shaggy said as he reached for the antidote vial. "I'm gonna stay this way forever!"

"Hold it!" Atticus said before tackling him like a football player.

"Quick, is the antidote ready?" Mo asked Scooby.

"Eureka! I've got it!" Scooby smiled.

"Great!" Patch smiled before looking concerned about one of the vials that looked ready to blow. "Uh, it's not the one that looks like it's going to blow up, is it?"

"Blow up?!" Velma gasped.

They all turned to the vial and panicked and it soon exploded instantly.

* * *

The others heard that and they went to go check it out as Old Man Wickles looked to them.

"Luckily that wasn't the antidote." Patch coughed.

"Ugh..." Cherry coughed and groaned, waving the smoke. "What happened in here?"

"This 'Schwarzeneggian oaf' almost destroyed us." Scooby replied, logically.

Shaggy laughed at the explosion. "Go boom."

"Oi." Mo groaned.

"Oh, you are an embarrassment." Scooby added before making him drink the antidote and gave himself some, changing them both back to, somewhat, normal.

"That was almost exactly like my freshman year in college." Shaggy grunted once he got on the floor with Scooby.

"I'm just glad that you two are back to normal." Patch said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Daphne asked. "You're supposed to be sick, Scooby."

"I invented a potion." Scooby smiled.

Cherry and Velma soon found something written and walked towards it.

"You lied to us," Fred scolded. "We're a team. You don't just go off half-cocked doing whatever you want."

"Uh, guys, you better take a look at this." Cherry spoke up.

This made everyone look over.

"What's that?" Bowser asked her.

" ** _'Beware who enters the Monster Hive'_** ," Cherry read aloud before they came into another secret room. " ** _'Inside your fears will come alive'_**."

"You can read that?" Mo asked.

"You know me, I can read just about anything." Cherry replied as she adjusted her glasses.

"Look! It's the costumes from the museum!" Fred pointed out to the others.

"They're all here." Mo said.

"Zombie." Velma muttered.

"Miner 49er." Daphne added.

"Captain Cutler." Shaggy gasped.

"The Tar Monster." Atticus said.

"He must have used the costumes to make real monsters, which implies-" Velma began.

"He needs the costumes to make the monsters, which implies-" Fred added.

"He already had a Pterodactyl Ghost costume somehow, which implies-" Daphne added.

"Patrick's the one." Cherry mumbled.

"Aw, Cherry's in love." Daphne said, misunderstanding.

"No!" Cherry complained to her. "I mean the one. The bad guy."

"He must've been using you..." Atticus said, but this soon made him angry. "He was using you!"

"Whoa, take it easy..." Cherry said about his anger.

"But he was using you, Cherry!" Atticus told her. "And no one uses my best friend!"

"Aw, that's so sweet..." Mo had to smile.

"We just saw Patrick at the bad guys' hang-out," Shaggy remembered. "He was working both sides of Psycho Street."

"Yeah, and he seemed a little aggressive." Patch said.

"He was a little scary." Bowser pouted like a child.

"I don't know who's behind this, but we don't need him transforming more costumes," Fred said to the others. "Let's find a way to shut down this monster-maker for good."

There was a flashing red light right behind him, but he didn't notice it.

"There's something over there." Mo said as she noticed the red light.

Everyone else looked over and went to follow the strange light.

"Psst! Guys!" Shaggy whispered to Scooby and the others with him. "We're the ones that found this place. Score one for the big guys! Now we need to keep acting like mondo-groovy detectives. Come on."

Scooby cheered and agreed with Shaggy. "Rokay."

"But we first need to find out how this thing makes the monsters real." Patch said.

"Could be anything." Shaggy shrugged as he nearly tripped and stepped on something.

* * *

A machine seemed to come down as a couple of costumes moved as Shaggy stepped on some sort of trigger.

"I may not be the smartest man around, but I think this might be the thing." Bowser told the others.

"Then all we need to do is take this thing off it so then no more monsters are made real." Atticus said.

Shaggy and Scooby came to the machine.

"Shaggy! Scooby! NO!" Patch panicked as he knew they would mess this up somehow, and where he was right as they started to mess with it which made sounds sounding like music.

"I'm starting to wonder who is the real adult between us?" Patch face-pawed.

As they were messing around, the costumes were put into the machine to turn into real monsters which would terrorize Coolsville very soon.

"Uh, guys?" Mo spoke up.

"Like, what is it, Mo?" Shaggy asked.

"The monsters." Mo said.

"Huh?" Shaggy asked before turning around with Scooby.

"You've plagued us all!" Patch cried out.

"We have... To remain... Calm." Shaggy smiled nervously.

Scooby soon screamed.

"Calm, Scooby-Doo! You're not being calm!" Shaggy told his best friend.

Scooby then slapped him.

"I needed that." Shaggy said.

Scooby then slapped him again.

"I needed that, too." Shaggy smiled.

Scooby then slapped him yet again.

"You're pushing your luck, Scoob!" Shaggy glared slightly.

"He's right!" Atticus added.

The monsters then began to walk towards them which worried Shaggy and Scooby. Patch began to growl at the monsters. The monsters just laughed at them.

"Did you guys find any-" Fred began to ask as he came with the others before seeing the monsters and the monsters glared right at them. "...Thing...?"

"H-H-He did it..." Scooby pointed to Shaggy while shivering.

"Yeah, we found out what makes the monsters real." Atticus told Fred and the others.

"Disconnect the control panel!" Velma suggested. "Maybe it'll stop the machine!"

Fred soon ran to see what he could do to help and slid down the railing of the stairs.

"We'll keep the monsters from getting closer." Mo said.

Fred grabbed the control panel as the pirate ghost breathed fire. Captain Cutler brought out a weapon to hit Fred with as he was there, passing them after grabbing the control panel.

"Let's run for it!" Mo yelped.

Fred dodged the crossbow arrows as he ran from the monsters.

"Just so you know, I can take all of you down easily, but I better stick with my friends." Cherry glared, shaking her fists at the monsters.

"Same here!" Atticus added.

They soon all ran away from the monsters.

"Come on, this way!" Shaggy told the others. "Quick, the elevator!"

They kept running only to be stopped by a ghost made out of electricity.

"The 10,000 Volt Ghost!" Patch gasped.

"Go, go, go!" Cherry cried out.

They all rushed into the elevator to escape from the monsters.

"We're gonna die!" Shaggy gasped.

"Think positive!" Daphne told him.

"We're gonna die _quickly_!" Shaggy replied.

"That's not positive!" Atticus told him.

"Waaait for me!" The 10,000 Volt Ghost laughed as he messed with the electricity for them.

They backed up outside after getting out of the elevator and in the dumpster behind them, the one-eyed skeleton monsters came out.

"Oh, come on!" Mo complained.

"Ooh, my life just keeps getting better and better." Cherry muttered.

* * *

Everyone soon ran off from where they could away from the monsters.

"Come on, guys!" Fred called out as he ran.

"We're coming!" Atticus replied.

"An exit!" Shaggy gasped as he opened the door, but found nothing there and fell out with Scooby.

They both landed hard on the ground and soon kept running. The skeleton monsters ran after them, though they had it harder than the cowardly duo did.

"Stop them!" The evil masked figure commanded the other monsters. "Destroy the city if you have to, but get me that control panel! With it, they can destroy everything I've set out to do."

"Need some help?" Sombra's voice taunted.

"Who goes there?" The masked man demanded sharply.

"Calm yourself, human." Sombra's voice said as he revealed in his human form.

"Who are you...?" The masked man demanded. "I've never seen you around here before."

"I am Sombra: The Unicorn King," Sombra smirked. "And trust me, that title is more threatening than it sounds."

"Unicorn King?" The masked man, nearly chuckling at the name. "Are you kidding?"

"Perhaps you'd like to see what I can do." Sombra bribed.

"Well, by all means, go ahead and wow me." The masked man replied.

Sombra soon decided to show his strength that he had on Earth.

The masked man looked a bit surprised in some cases.

"So, whatya say?" Sombra smirked. "Am I qualified?"

"Well... I should say so," The masked man soon replied. "I have to ask though, do you have a hatred for Mystery Incorporated?"

"No, but I do have a hatred to that perky goth." Sombra glared.

"Is she the one who dresses mostly in black and makes snippy comments?" The masked man asked.

"The very same..." Sombra growled.

"Excellent..." The masked man said.

"So, what do you say, partners?" Sombra asked.

"Partners." The man nodded as they shook on it.

"Excellent..." Sombra grinned darkly as always.

* * *

Outside, Cherry suddenly shivered.

"Are you okay?" Mo asked.

"Just got a chill," Cherry replied. "Must be these bad guys."

"The only time you shivered like that is when... Oh, no." Atticus frowned.

"Please tell me I'm just being paranoid..." Cherry begged.

"Um, you're just being paranoid." Atticus said as he avoided eye contact.

Cherry frowned to him since he had lied and her worst fears had been realized.

"Come on, let's get you guys back home where it's safe." Fred told Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch.

"No, we're not going home." Mo said.

"Uh, we're not?" Cherry asked.

"Because if you know who is here, we better stay with them." Mo said.

"What...?" Cherry complained.

"All right... Hang tight, we're going to headquarters." Fred told them then.

Suddenly, Shaggy and Scooby fell in which made the others wince.

"You alright?" Atticus asked them.

"Sure, as long as you define 'alright' as in 'massive agony'." Shaggy replied.

"All right, back to headquarters then." Fred said.

"No!" Velma told him. "That'll be the first place they'll look for us."

"Then where?" Mo asked.

"I think I know where to go." Velma said.

The Mystery Machine then drove off to take them somewhere safe away from the monsters unleashed in their town.

 _'Where are we going?'_ Patch thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 7

In town, Michelle was a little frustrated as she was on her way home from work, but got caught in a traffic jam with some other disgruntled drivers.

"Move that worthless piece of tin!" A man yelled, honking his horn.

"What is the hold-up?!" Michelle glared before looking in her rear-view mirror and her eyes widened as she looked behind her and saw what looked like a ghostly pirate ship in the sky. She soon rolled up her window so then no ghosts would get in.

The other citizens panicked and ran around.

"Citizens! Turn in Mystery Inc. Your reward: We'll let you live," The evil masked figure laughed darkly. "My monsters can make life very unpleasant. Find me Mystery Inc now."

"I'd rather suffer." Michelle said as she locked her doors.

The Tar Monster soon splatted his hand on her windshield, let her letting out a brief startled scream, but she glared as she was rather brave on her own, even without her big, strong husband. She then made faces at The Tar Monster as it couldn't get in. The Tar Monster snarled at her and slithered away.

"Heheh~..." Michelle smirked.

Eventually, everyone got stuck in the tar and the one man who complained got trapped since his window was open.

"Should have rolled up his window." Michelle sighed.

* * *

At home, Bud flipped through the TV channels until he found Heather's show and stopped for a minute.

 _ **'Heather Jasper-Howe with an emergency update for Investigative Probe,'**_ Heather reported to show what had been going on in town. **_'A monster army has invaded Coolsville. Angry citizens have gathered outside Mystery Inc's offices in protest. They're insisting the gang cooperate with the Evil Masked Figure's demands.'_**

"Whoa." Bud said.

The crowd angrily chanted and even called Mystery Inc 'Mystery Stink' and they screamed and ducked as the Pterodactyl Ghost flew over them.

* * *

"Excuse me, sir," A newsman asked the zombie in front of him. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The zombie snarled and soon threw up all over him, much to his disgust and dismay, although Scooby found what the zombie did to be funny. Cherry glanced at him as that was gross and uncalled for. Scooby looked at her and soon kept quiet.

 ** _'I beg you, Mystery Inc, if you can hear me, turn yourselves in.'_ ** Heather begged on the screen.

"Sorry, Coolsville, but they can't do that." Mo said.

"Besides, if we do, he'll get the control panel back, and the city will be in worse shape." Fred added.

"We'd be playing right into his hands." Daphne agreed.

 ** _'Please. For our city's sake.'_ ** Heather continued, but then gasped as someone interrupted her show.

It was none other than The Black Knight Ghost. ** _"Sorry. You're cancelled."_** The Black Knight Ghost taunted.

Heather gasped and suddenly, she was off the air, just like that.

* * *

The group soon made it to an old hide-out.

"So, what is this place?" Cherry asked.

"The old high school clubhouse," Velma informed as Shaggy helped her out of the van. "We should be safe here."

"This place looks like it hasn't been used in years." Mo said.

"We haven't _been_ here in years." Daphne told her.

"Whoa." Mo said.

"Looks ancient, like that church across the yard from my house." Cherry commented.

Fred seemed a little distant and miserable compared to the others. He stayed inside of the van.

"Freddy, are you okay?" Daphne asked out of concern. "Do you wanna talk?"

"Talking's for wimps," Fred pouted as he soon came out of the van. "It's time for action."

 _'What's with him?'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"You know, Scoob, this Evil Masked Figure is turning Coolsville into Ghoulsville, and the gang is totally taking a hit for it." Shaggy sulked.

"Reah." Scooby frowned.

"Like, this is the most 'our faultiest screw-up ever', Scoob." Shaggy then said.

Atticus frowned as the cowardly duo seemed to think they were responsible. Scooby whimpered as he lay his head on Shaggy's shoulder while everyone else went up to the tree-house.

 _'Whoa.'_ Patch thought to himself as he saw the inside.

Cherry looked up.

"Aren't you gonna go in?" Mo asked.

"I'm not much of a climber." Cherry grinned sheepishly.

"Fear of heights?" Mo guessed.

Cherry looked over and nodded while shutting her eyes.

"Okay, you don't have to come up with us." Mo said.

"I'll just wait down here and hope that no one gets me." Cherry said.

"Stay safe." Atticus told her before going up with Mo and the others.

Cherry nodded as she stayed put while looking around as she was alone, or so it appeared.

* * *

Patch started look around the tree-house. Velma came to a corner to see if something worked and the light soon came on for all of them.

"The lights still work here." Mo said.

"Sure does," Velma said as she opened a hatch. "Oh, look. All my old tools!"

"After all our so-called success, we're back in this old fire trap." Fred groaned before he saw an old picture and picked it up: it was of him and the others in Mystery Inc when they were a lot younger. It was back before they became famous.

"You guys look so... Uh... Young..." Patch commented. "I mean..."

"That's alright, Patch," Velma told him. "That was a long time ago."

Patch soon saw something that looked like an old invention. Fred looked at the picture as he sighed in the nostalgia of the good old days as Daphne and Velma came to his sides.

"Whatcha got there, Patch?" Mo asked.

"It looks something kinda similar to the panel." Patch said as he sniffed the invention.

The others soon looked at him to see what he had found.

"Velma, what is this?" Patch asked.

"Hey... My first multiple-resonance imaging device," Velma smiled. "Made out of a crystal radio and old video games."

Patch had a feeling this would help them reprogram the control panel.

"Wait a minute..." Velma said as she suddenly felt inspired. "Randamonium has an algorithmic cross-currency of negative 4.121. With it, maybe... Well, just maybe-"

"We could reverse the current, and therefore, reverse the monster making process?" Patch guessed.

"Precisely," Velma told him. "All we need to do is rewire the control panel-"

Mo didn't know what to add.

"Bring it back to the Monster Hive, and plug it into the base." Daphne said.

"Right, and push the button-" Velma replied.

"And instead of creating monsters, all the monsters throughout the city will be destroyed." Daphne concluded with a smile.

"Then we better get to work." Atticus said.

Everyone agreed and they set to it to make things right in Coolsville again. They were now doing a great job with the control panel.

* * *

Cherry was still down with Shaggy and Scooby.

"Like, they're totally having a montage in there without us," Shaggy said. "I'll tell you one thing for sure. They don't need our help to figure it out."

"Things sure do sound great up there." Cherry said.

"We're screw-ups." Scooby pouted.

"The only time we do anything right is when we accidentally plow into the Snow Ghost because we've accidentally glued our feet to rocket-powered roller-skates." Shaggy frowned.

"Reah... Eight stupid times..." Scooby counted.

"Okay, that is pretty sad..." Cherry smiled nervously. "But I'm sure you've had better days."

"Oh, yeah?" Shaggy replied. "Like what?"

"Oh, lots of times..." Cherry smiled as she thought back to previous adventures. "Um... There was that one time you... Uh... Um... Or how about when? ...Uh..."

"Face it, Cherry," Shaggy frowned. "We'll never be anything, but our old goofy selves."

"Reah…." Scooby added.

"I wish once, just once, I could do the right thing on purpose," Shaggy sighed. "You know, Scoob? Like, be a hero, and save the day. But who are we kidding, right?" He then took a stone and threw it into the pond in front of them.

A sharp clang was heard and the water glowed green before a certain diver came out in front of them.

"Captain Cutler's ghost..." Shaggy whispered out of fear.

"Uh-oh..." Cherry gulped.

"CAPTAIN CUTLER'S GHOST!" Shaggy and Scooby panicked before running away.

* * *

"They found us," Fred warned the others. "Finish that in the van when we get to the Monster Hive."

"Agreed." Atticus nodded.

They soon rushed into the Mystery Machine and rode off as Captain Cutler's ghost came out of the water to capture them. The ghost then brought out his crossbow and began to shoot it and it hit the doors, but not stabbing anyone.

"What do we do?!" Everyone else panicked.

"Fine, let's go back!" Fred said as he backed the van up.

Captain Cutler sure didn't see that coming.

"Uh, Fred? We're trying to not die!" Mo told him.

"Just trust me!" Fred told her as he backed up the van into Captain Cutler and that sent him straight back into the pond.

"Nice." Cherry said.

"Told ya." Fred said before driving forward again.

"Shaggy, give me a hand!" Velma cried out as she used a screwdriver on the device.

"This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life." Shaggy said as he held his hand down for her and she put her other hand on top of it.

"Almost done?" Mo asked Velma.

"It's done!" Velma said as she managed to finish.

"Thank goodness." Mo sighed out of relief.

The Pterodactyl Ghost was soon flying over them.

"We have company!" Patch told them once he heard the ghost dinosaur's wings flapping.

"Tweety's back!" Velma shrieked.

"Shaggy?!" Fred called out.

"Yeah?!" Shaggy called back.

"I'm putting her in cruise," Fred told him. "Take the wheel!"

Shaggy soon went to take the wheel. The Pterodactyl Ghost snarled and grabbed a hold of the back of the Mystery Machine, shattering some windows. This made everybody flip upside down and quickly, Shaggy grabbed a hold of the wheel again.

"Take _THIS_!" Fred glared as he kicked the back doors open and shot flames at the flying dinosaur.

"That should scare it." Cherry smirked.

The Pterodactyl Ghost then grabbed the flamethrower and broke it in its talons.

"Or not..." Cherry said nervously.

"This is bad." Fred frowned.

Atticus soon decided to blow the Pterodactyl Ghost away.

"You know, you could've done that **_BEFORE_ FRED HAD THE FLAMETHROWER!** " Cherry replied.

The Pterodactyl Ghost kept trying to get to them, but Atticus's blow was way too strong and he soon went flying into a billboard.

"Whoa, those sure are some strong lungs." Fred commented out of amazement.

"Thanks..." Atticus said with a slight gasp before taking another breath and cleared his throat. "'Scuse me."

"Totally." Shaggy agreed as he joined them.

"Shaggy, who's driving?" Patch asked.

"EVERYBODY REMAIN CALM, I GOT THIS!" Cherry yelped as she was behind the wheel and her face grew pale.

"Well, we're dead." Patch sighed.

Cherry panicked as she tried to drive, but couldn't because she didn't know how to.

"I'll drive!" Patch told her.

"Why does a _dog_ know how to drive?!" Cherry complained.

"Do you want us to crash?!" Patch panicked.

"That doesn't answer my question..." Cherry muttered.

* * *

Patch soon took the wheel and stopped the van for right now.

"Oh... It's Mom's car..." Cherry commented once she saw her mother's work car.

"What's she out in the middle of the night?" Mo asked.

"Mom?" Cherry asked and knocked out the window.

Michelle looked over and rolled down the window with a smile. "Hey, baby!"

"Mom, what're you doing here?" Cherry asked.

"I was on my way home and these ghosts came out..." Michelle glared.

"And your window was rolled up why?" Cherry asked.

"Well, I couldn't let them get in, obviously." Michelle told her daughter.

"Smart." Cherry said.

"I know I am, where do you think you got it from?" Michelle smirked.

"Aw, Mom..." Cherry replied bashfully.

"Anyway, where are you all off to?" Michelle asked.

"Home?" Cherry replied.

"No, Cherry, we have to go back to the Mining place." Mo said.

"I'm fine with home?" Cherry smiled sheepishly.

"Cherry?" Michelle asked firmly.

"Mother?" Cherry smiled nervously.

Michelle glanced at her daughter and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... Could we have a ride... Mother Dearest?" Cherry grinned nervously.

"Alright." Michelle shrugged.

"Just don't look at me like that..." Cherry muttered.

"Excuse me?" Michelle replied.

"Uh, I said thank you, and I love you!" Cherry replied nervously.

"That's what I thought." Michelle said.

The others soon went to go with Michelle.

"I'm not scared of my mother." Cherry glared at Patch who glanced at her oddly.

"Mm..." Patch hummed to that as they went to go back to the mining place.

* * *

Soon enough, they had reached their destination.

"We're here, kids." Michelle smiled.

Everyone else soon came out to put a stop to this, but Cherry stayed in her mother's car.

"Cherry, are you going to help?" Michelle asked.

Cherry didn't answer and just sat still.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Michelle asked.

"I'm a little nervous..." Cherry said as she looked at her mother softly. "This has to be the most dangerous case Mystery Inc can handle... What if someone gets severally hurt or worse?"

"Cherry, I understand how you feel." Michelle sighed.

"Sure you do..." Cherry pouted to herself in doubt. "I know I seem dark and scary, but I'm actually pretty scared on the inside..."

"No, really, I do every time I see you go off on adventures." Michelle said.

"What's that mean?" Cherry asked.

Michelle soon showed Cherry her journal. Cherry took the journal and decided to take a look at it since her mother wanted her to. And when she opened it, she found that it was filled with pages of her mother fearing for her daughter's life every time she went on an adventure. Cherry winced and grimaced at some of the wording.

"I tried to distract myself from you going out on adventures like this... Your father recommended I start writing..." Michelle softly said to Cherry. "And, it helped, but I can't help still worrying about you."

"Your anxiety is giving me anxiety..." Cherry commented.

"Well, you can't let your fears stand in the way, your grandmother told me that..." Michelle advised.

Cherry gulped before breathing in and out.

"It'll be all right..." Michelle said. "Besides, Atticus needs you."

"Does he?" Cherry muttered.

"Yes, you're his best friend." Michelle reminded.

Cherry looked to the window and put her hand to the window.

"Go on..." Michelle urged. "He's waiting for you..."

Cherry soon took a deep breath and came out of the car, trying to look brave and determined. She soon went off and hurried to catch up with the others.

"That's my girl." Michelle smiled as she waited in the car.

* * *

"All right... Who wants some?" Cherry challenged as she came out and looked around. She didn't find any monsters yet. She came inside to explore.

"Careful." Bowser told her.

"GAH!" Cherry yelped and kicked him in the face since he startled her, but luckily for both of them, that barely hurt him.

"That kind of tickled." Bowser said.

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, Big Guy!" Cherry gasped.

"It's okay," Bowser chuckled. "That tickled!"

"It did?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah, that kick barely hurt." Bowser chuckled.

"How strong are you?" Cherry asked.

"Hmm..." Bowser hummed, then smiled as he walked up to her.

Cherry's eyes widened a bit. Bowser then grabbed a hold of her and lifted her up in the air with both hands.

"That proves nothing!" Cherry cried out. "Now put me down!"

"If you wanna prove your strength, try me after we get rid of these monsters." Atticus challenged Bowser.

Bowser then dropped Cherry.

"Ow!" Cherry yelped.

"Oops... Sorry, friend..." Bowser frowned before helping her back up.

"Thanks for the help up, Big Guy." Cherry said.

"Let's kick monster butt!" Bowser smiled.

"Uh, yeah..." Cherry agreed. "Let's move out."

"Oh, should I pack my toothbrush?" Bowser then asked.

Cherry face-palmed at that.

"It's a figure of speech." Atticus told him.

* * *

The Black Knight Ghost soon appeared with his steed, looking ready for them. "You go nowhere, knaves..."

"You guys take the long way around, and I'll hold him off." Fred told the others.

"You can take him." Atticus assured him as he and the others went off.

Fred nodded as he felt more determined since Atticus told him that. The Black Knight Ghost growled as it was down to the two of them, and where Fred was going to use a motorcycle for his steed. Daphne looked worried for Fred, but tried to not let that stop her. The Black Knight Ghost laughed as he got his sword read as Fred grabbed a pipe to face the ghost. Fred even took out his old ascot and tied it around his neck while gripping the handle bars.


	8. Chapter 8

"We're almost inside." Patch said.

"I can't leave Fred like this." Daphne frowned.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Atticus assured her.

Daphne simply pouted.

"Wow... They really do love each other." Cherry smirked.

Unfortunately, a familiar electric ghost appeared.

"Gah!" Cherry yelped.

Daphne glared as the others were scared as they would have no chance against The 10,000 Volt Ghost.

"Daphne, it's not worth it!" Cherry cried out. "10,000 volts can _kill_ you!"

"We'll find another way in." Mo said.

Daphne tried to fight, but she soon went flying.

"Daphne!" Cherry cried out.

Daphne yelled out and soon landed on the ground next to Fred as he fell off of the motorcycle after jousting with The Black Knight Ghost.

"What should we do?" Patch asked.

"Uh... How do you stop electricity?" Cherry began to sweat nervously.

They soon just decided to run, but then stopped as they saw the skeleton monsters again.

"Great..." Cherry groaned. "I'm sick of these jerks."

"Same here." Bowser added.

"Okay, everybody just back up slowly." Patch suggested.

Everyone began to back up slowly. Once far back enough, they then ran off and hid away.

* * *

"Here, Shaggy, take this." Velma said, handing him the control panel.

"Why're you giving this to me?" Shaggy asked.

"I'll distract those skeletal screwballs," Velma told him. "Get this to the Monster Hive."

"But you're not going alone." Mo told her.

"I'm not?" Velma asked.

"I'll go with you, so then they'll have two targets." Mo said.

"Oh, Mo, are you sure you wanna risk that?" Velma asked out of concern.

"I'm sure." Mo said.

"Just promise me you'll be very careful." Velma said.

"I will, Velma, I promise," Mo vowed. "I've had to be brave most of my life to get where I am today."

"It's true, Mo had to live most of her life on the streets." Cherry said.

"Really?" Velma asked since Mo was kind of new.

"Well, yeah, more or less..." Mo shrugged indifferently. "Just me and Angel... Of course with the other dogs."

"Whoa." Velma said.

"Come on, Velma, let's go." Mo replied.

"Right." Velma agreed as she went to go with Mo.

"But, wait, which of us should hold onto the panel?" Cherry asked.

"You're coming too, Cherry?" Velma asked.

Cherry soon took a deep gulp and smiled nervously. "Eh... Why not?"

"That just leaves me, Patch, Shaggy, and Scooby." Atticus said.

"I know you can do it..." Cherry grinned nervously.

"You can too..." Atticus advised. "You don't have to be scared."

"Yeah, besides, those two are just skeletons." Patch said.

"I guess it's just the idea of these monsters being loose in town..." Cherry replied. "That's the stuff of nightmares."

"And who knows nightmares better than you?" Patch asked. "Cherry, you're braver than you think you are."

"Well, we better get going to distract those skeletons." Mo said as Velma handed the panel to Bowser.

"Ooh..." Bowser's eyes glowed. "Shiny..."

Cherry groaned and rolled her eyes. "He's like a big giant kid!"

Velma flashed Shaggy a smile as she went off and he smiled back to her. Atticus soon secretly used his magic to make Bowser smarter, but not too smart.

"Ooh... My head almost hurts..." Bowser said as he rubbed his head.

"That's your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity." Cherry muttered.

"Cherry!" Atticus scolded as that sounded mean.

"What? It's not like he's gonna get it," Cherry smirked with a shrug. She soon saw Bowser glaring at her and which meant that he did get it. "I'm gonna go now..." she said before zipping away.

"I'm sorry, Bowser, sometimes she says stuff like that..." Atticus said to his new friend.

"It's alright." Bowser shrugged.

"Reroes?" Scooby asked.

"Yes, Scooby, you and Shaggy are gonna be heroes." Atticus smiled.

* * *

Mo, Velma, and Cherry soon distracted the skeletons and where that meant it was safe for the five of them to sneak in.

"Hey, Ugly!" Cherry called out.

The monsters looked over to her.

"Haha, made ya look." Cherry smirked.

The monsters looked angry as they started to go after them. Atticus, Patch, Bowser, Shaggy, and Scooby looked ready to go, but they ran into the ghost known as The Miner 49er who grinned evilly at them with glowing green eyes.

"Don't worry; there's only one of him and five of us." Atticus said.

Bowser soon growled at the miner. The miner grabbed a hold of him, but Bowser turned the tables and gave him a very tight and painful bear hug, and where the miner seemed to scream as that hurt him.

"Aw, does that hurt?" Bowser laughed. "Yeah... I had to learn that trick last Thanksgiving."

"Ready to bury him up to his head?" Atticus asked him.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!" Bowser nodded eagerly.

Shaggy and Scooby soon ran away with the control panel.

"Go, guys, we'll handle Toxic Breath over here!" Patch told them before glaring at The Miner 49er.

Atticus and Bowser soon started to spin The Miner 49er like a top, and where he was soon stuck in the ground. Patch then began to bury the ghost with his back hind legs, being a dog after all and smirked. The Miner 49er looked both sick and annoyed with them.

"That should do it." Patch smirked.

Cherry, Mo, and Velma split up and made faces at the monsters while distracting them, and where this made the monsters even more angry.

"This is too easy," Cherry laughed as she stood on top of something. "And nothing bad happened to me."

Unfortunately for her, she fell down as what she stood on top of was an air vent.

"Waaah!" Cherry yelped as she suddenly fell and slid down what was like a slide and she crashed into somewhere else. "Ow..." Cherry soon reached out for her glasses as she crawled all around. "At least I'm not like Velma when I lose my glasses... Where did those pests get to now?" she muttered to herself as she wandered around the room.

* * *

Although, unknown to her, it was a secret shrine room. Since Cherry could see up close, she found a crank and looked curious, so she turned it a little and looked up and around before seeing what looked like an old film projection of a very intelligent man with colleagues.

"Patrick...?" Cherry muttered before looking to the shrine and looked up to see a pterodactyl model and saw the dedication for Johnathon Jacobo."

"Cherry..." Patrick said, right behind her and brought out her glasses. "Lose something?"

Cherry soon began to reach out for her glasses. Cherry mumbled to herself before putting her glasses on and could see a lot better now. She wasn't as blind as Velma without her glasses, but she still needed them. "Patrick..." She then muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to solve this mystery," Patrick told her. "Same as you."

Cherry started to back away from him.

"I mean, that is what you're doing, right?" Patrick asked her. "Trying to solve this mystery?"

"Yes... Of course... But..." Cherry said, nearly breathless. "Why are you so obsessed with Johnathon Jacobo?"

"What are you talking about-" Patrick asked her only for her to run off.

"Get away from me!" Cherry called out. "I'm gonna tell Atticus!"

"Cherry!" Patrick said as he then went after her.

Cherry kept running like her life depended on it and there seemed to be crystal spikes where she was running, but she didn't notice right now as Patrick came after her. "I know who you are..." she said as she backed up and soon screamed as the floor opened up under her feet and she nearly fell, only to be grabbed by her hand by him to save her. "What the-?"

"Cherry, let go of the grate." Patrick grunted.

"Why?!" Cherry yelped. "So I can fall to my death?!"

"No, so I can pull you up." Patrick told her.

"How can I trust you?!" Cherry replied.

"You've got to!" Patrick told her.

"How can I?" Cherry replied. "It's obvious that you're that Evil Masked Figure! Anyone with a _brain_ could tell you that!"

"Trust me, Cherry; I'm not the Evil Masked Figure!" Patrick told her.

"That's exactly what you want me to think!" Cherry called out.

"Smart, yet useless." Sombra's voice laughed.

"S-S-Sombra?!" Cherry panicked.

"Ah, you remember me..." Sombra chuckled as he soon came out. "I've been waiting for you, Cherry."

"Leave me alone!" Cherry cried out. "What did I ever do to you?!"

"You are the reason why my nephew isn't evil!" Sombra glared.

"That's not my fault..." Cherry said to him.

"Yes, it is!" Sombra glared. "If it wasn't for you, we'd be conquering your pathetic planet by now!"

Cherry's grip was soon about to slip.

"Yes... Fall..." Sombra smirked.

Cherry gulped and she soon let go of the grate and yelped, but Patrick grabbed her hand to help pull her up. 'Well, this is surprising.' The perky goth then thought to herself.

Sombra soon cast a black glow over Cherry and pulled her away.

"Noooo!" Cherry cried out as she couldn't get loose.

"Cherry!" Patrick cried out for her.

"You're mine, you meddler!" Sombra glared to Cherry. "With you out of the way, Atticus shall finally be taken over by the darkness in him."

Cherry tried to break out, but it was no use.

"Forget it, you're never getting out of there..." Sombra grinned darkly to her. "Now, I'm going to do to you what should've been done a long time ago..."

Patrick soon tackled Sombra to protect Cherry.

"GAH!" Sombra growled and glared to Patrick. "Why, you-"

"Run, Cherry, RUN!" Patrick told her.

Cherry looked at them as she got free and soon ran away.

"You shall pay for that." Sombra glared at Patrick.

"She's an innocent child," Patrick told Sombra. "You can't let her get hurt like this. All of you monsters are going back to wherever you came from and I'll make sure of it."

"We'll see about that." Sombra smirked before throwing him into the air so then the Pterodactyl Ghost would have him.

Patrick yelled out in misfortune while Sombra laughed.

Cherry gasped and looked worried before glaring. "You... **BULLY**!"

Sombra then glared towards Cherry. "Now, to get rid of you..."

"You'll never get rid of me..." Cherry said. "Haven't you heard that _friendship_ is magic?"

"Yes, but I doubt that's real." Sombra glared.

"Why do you insist on destroying me?!" Cherry glared back.

"Because Atticus didn't have anyone... Then you came along..." Sombra sneered. "He nearly felt the pain I felt when I lost The Crystal Empire a thousand years ago!"

"But he's happy!" Cherry sneered back.

"He'll be happier when he achieves his destiny and drops you," Sombra glowered. "I don't even know why he's friends with you! You're just a miserable bully! You call me a bully, but you make fun of people different than you all the time! You're a loner! You're always with your books! And you're an EMO!"

"I'M A PERKY GOTH!" Cherry snapped.

"Like it matters..." Sombra smirked. "Face it, you can't handle me even if you want to... You always cower behind Atticus. I know you, you're not that brave, you're a coward, you're just a façade and cover up for your own fears and insecurities."

Cherry was about cower before she remembered what Patch told her. Sombra grinned as he felt like he had gotten to Cherry now, but he soon saw that she was not being affected. Cherry narrowed her eyes.

"So, you dare challenge me?" Sombra narrowed his eyes back. "Let's see what you got, Element of Darkness."

"That's not what my Element is." Cherry said.

"It might as well be to match your heart." Sombra smirked.

"At least I have a heart." Cherry retorted.

Sombra didn't take offense to that. Cherry glared at him and Sombra glared right at her, making crystal spikes surround her. Only for new crystal spikes to crash into his crystal spikes. Sombra did a double take and snarled at that. Cherry gulped while trying to stay brave and live up to the dark and serious tone she had a reputation for despite being small and cowardly on the inside.

"There's only one person I know that has crystal powers like mine..." Sombra glared before he looked and saw Atticus coming along with the others.

* * *

"Leave her alone, Uncle Sombra!" Atticus demanded.

Sombra glared as he backed away as he knew how strong his nephew's magic was.

"I said leave her alone, Uncle Sombra," Atticus glared. "Leave all of my friends alone, they never did anything to you."

"Yeah!" Cherry replied. "...That's what I said!"

"So, let me make this perfectly clear to you," Atticus told his uncle. "I am never turning evil, I am never going to become your heir to the throne, and I am never, ever, ever going to join your side, so get over it already!"

"You will join me!" Sombra glared. "We will rule the world as uncle and nephew."

"Dude, Darth Vader called-" Cherry muttered.

"SILENCE!" Sombra snapped, smacking her in the face to shut her up.

"Ooh..." Patch cringed. "Bad move." The young Dalmatian was right as Atticus's crystals soon turned dark and his aura started to show, and where he even looked ready to kill Sombra for what he had just done.

Cherry rubbed her cheek and fell to her knees and winced at the sight of the dark crystals.

"Atticus, she's only holding you back, she would be happier without you..." Sombra smirked. "She's always making fun of you."

"She's my best friend, and besides, I make fun of her at times, we're like brother and sister." Atticus glared at him as the crystals started to break through Sombra's.

"You make fun of Cherry?" Patch asked.

"It's true, he does." Cherry shrugged.

"You would be better off without a certain pest." Sombra said.

"Yes... YOU!" Atticus glared.

"Ohhhh!" Cherry called out like that was a roast.

Atticus's dark crystals soon broke through all of Sombra's crystals.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop talking now." Cherry said.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep." Sombra glared.

"Stop bullying me!" Cherry cried out.

" **LEAVE HER ALONE!** " Atticus yelled at Sombra which made more dark crystals break through Sombra's crystals and towards him.

Cherry ducked down and covered her ears. Sombra soon yelled out as the crystals got to him, being more dangerous than his own. The crystal spikes soon stopped in front of him, telling Sombra that Atticus was in control.

"You may be my uncle and a king, but I won't let you control me." Atticus narrowed his eyes to the evil villain.

Sombra could tell that he couldn't convince his nephew right now. Atticus even let out a growl.

"You will join me, Atticus, you will... I know you will..." Sombra said firmly.

"Get... OUT!" Atticus demanded.

Sombra soon vanished.

Atticus breathed heavily and soon took a deep breath to settle down. "You okay, Cherry?" he then asked.

Cherry shivered nervously, a bit scared from his anger. Once he was calmed down, the crystals vanished.

"It's okay, Cherry, Atticus won't hurt you." Patch soothed the perky goth.

"Oh, I knew that," Cherry replied, looking laid-back. "I was just pretending to be scared so King Sombra would know to back off of my personal space."

"Uh-huh, sure." Mo said.

"So, Cherry, you're actually scared on the inside?" Patch asked.

Cherry looked at him and sighed. "I have _very_ low self-esteem."

"Anyway, we better install this panel." Mo suggested.

"Right..." Cherry said. "What could possibly go wrong, right?" she then laughed, a bit nervously now though.

Daphne soon saw that neither of them had the panel.

"All right... Who's got the panel?" Cherry asked.

"We thought you had it?" Patch said to her.

"I thought you guys had it!" Cherry replied.

"Um, right, about that; we kind of gave it to Shaggy and Scooby." Bowser smiled nervously.

"MORON!" Cherry yelled out.

"Hey, I may be a moron, but I'm not stupid!" Bowser pouted.

"You realize that those two are cowards except when they have Scooby Snax!" Cherry told him.

"...Oh..." Bowser frowned.

"Stupid idiot..." Cherry mumbled. "We better go help them."

"Wait, wasn't one of the ghosts The Cotton Candy Glob?" Atticus asked.

"No, that's a Tar Monster, genius..." Cherry replied. "I know you don't have a powerful memory, but-" She thought about it a moment before she soon face-palmed herself once she remembered that there was in fact a monster based off of cotton candy.

"Yes...?" Atticus asked.

"Jerk." Cherry muttered.

They soon rushed off to find Shaggy and Scooby.

* * *

The cowardly duo was standing still and didn't notice the monster behind them right now until they then saw him.

"You should never have locked those locks!" The monster grinned as he reached out to them. "Now, you're stuck in here with me, The Cotton Candy Glob!"

"Cotton... Candy... Glob?" Shaggy and Scooby sounded scared at first.

"Yes?" The Cotton Candy Glob smirked.

Shaggy and Scooby looked as though they were now in Heaven and soon attacked the monster and ate him since he was made out of cotton candy.

"No! I'll give you cavities!" The Cotton Candy Glob warned, but unfortunately for him, the cowardly duo didn't care.

The others rushed to find Shaggy and Scooby, though they were sure everything was alright as they were faced with a monster made out of candy.

"This is, like, the greatest day of our lives, Scoob." Shaggy smiled as he came with Scooby as they were both full now.

"Reah!" Scooby smiled back.

"See? We had nothing to worry about." Mo smiled.

"You know, I'm kinda thirsty, I wonder if there's a Liter-Sized Soda Glob anywhere?" Shaggy replied.

Cherry rolled her eyes slightly.

"Come on, guys, we have to hurry." Fred said as he took the control panel.

"Why?" Mo asked.

"We have to get this control panel back before-" Fred said before they were surrounded by the other monsters.

"Wah, wah..." Cherry muttered in misfortune.

"Before _that_ happens?" Atticus guessed.

"Exactly..." Fred sighed, a bit scared right now.

"At last, I have you, Mystery Inc," The evil masked figure mocked. "You'll never make it past my monsters."

"We'll see about that." Atticus said.

"We've taken these jerks before, gang," Daphne told the others. "Let's do it again."

Fred nodded and ran towards the monsters and the Tar Monster grabbed his leg.

"Ohh, so that's what happened to The Tar Monster... My bad, Atticus." Cherry said.

"Wait, can't tar be frozen over by something, like a fire extinguisher?" Mo asked.

"A fire extinguisher is a CO2 type. It's full of compressed carbon dioxide, which is heavier than oxygen, displacing it to suffocate fires," Velma replied, logically. "It's also cold. CO2 in solid form is dry ice. It won't freeze you solid, but it could cause frostnip if you were to spray it on your skin for more than a couple of seconds. Tar is a solid at room temperature, flowing only when hot. The cold CO2 is enough to reduce the monsters temperature and solidify the tar, without being so cold it freezes the surroundings."

"A 'yes' would've been nice." Cherry muttered.

"So, we just need to freeze the Tar Monster with a fire extinguisher." Atticus said.

"Now, we just need to find one." Patch replied.

The Tar Monster soon seeped to trap them all and everyone ran around, scattering so they wouldn't get trapped, and the control panel was thrown around.

"Cherry, he'll be after you now!" Mo warned.

"Don't worry, you know I can't catch!" Cherry said as she purposely ran with her hands in the air.

Unfortunately for her, the control panel fell in her hands.

"I hate myself." Cherry groaned before giving it to Mo and ran away.

"I hate yourself." Mo said before screaming as the monster came for her now.

* * *

Patch soon spotted the fire extinguisher.

"Soon, your friends will be dead, and Coolsville will be destroyed!" The evil masked figure laughed. "My revenge will be final, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Patch looked broken seeing everyone else suffer like this, but knew he would be fine once he grabbed the fire extinguisher and got ready to use it. He soon started to use it on the Tar Monster.

"Oh, I just hope the foam is in there." Cherry hoped.

Luckily for all of them, there was, and it soon spread to the Tar Monster, much to the dismay of the Evil Masked Figure.

"Oh, cold!" The Tar Monster complained before shattering.

"Now to get the control panel to where it belongs." Patch said.

"Stop them!" The Evil Masked Figure told the other monsters.

Cherry and Patch began to make their way to where the control panel had to be placed.

"Careful, Cherry." Patch reminded.

Cherry nodded as she went with him as the monsters came after them to stop them. And, of course, the monsters simply failed at doing just that. Patch sprayed the fire extinguisher foam as he traveled with Cherry. Cherry even took her turn and laughed as the monsters suffered. Once they were where the control panel was to be placed, the evil masked figure panicked. The Pterodactyl Ghost soon screeched and flew over.

"You're _**BACK**_?!" Cherry complained.

Patch soon used his magic to shrink the Pterodactyl Ghost to the size of a fly. The Pterodactyl Ghost let out a screech, but it sounded like a weak and pathetic squeak. Cherry soon looked straight face and then smirked, bringing out a fly swatter. Once the Pterodactyl Ghost saw how big everything was and how big the fly swatter was now, it soon whimpered and flew away. Cherry smirked and soon chased the Pterodactyl Ghost, going to swat him with a snicker.

"You can't do this to me!" The Evil Masked Figure sneered at Patch. "Who do you think you are?!"

"Care to tell him?!" Cherry smirked at Patch while chasing the tiny dinosaur ghost.

"Eh, why not?" Patch smirked back. "My name is Patch, the son of Pongo and Perdita, and the proud pet of Atticus Fudo, you have destroyed innocents... PREPARE TO LOSE!" he then firmly told the villain before putting in the control panel and put it into use, and where soon, the monsters were turned back into costumes.

"Nooooo!" The Evil Masked Figure cried out.

"Splat." Cherry smirked as she squashed the Pterodactyl Ghost.

Once the monsters were destroyed, everyone else had been freed.

"Whew." Bowser sighed.

"My monsters!" The Evil Masked Figure groaned and soon began to run only to nearly fall down the grater.

"Oh... About that... I might've broken that..." Cherry smirked.

"Clever." Bowser added.

"Hey, who knew being klutzy would come in handy?" Cherry replied innocently.

"Good boy, Patch!" Atticus smiled to his dog. "You did it!"

Patch smiled proudly. This was a happy day and moment for everyone, including the citizens of Coolsville.

"You guys did great too." Patch smiled to Shaggy and Scooby.

"You sure did." Atticus added.

Shaggy and Scooby smiled to Atticus and Patch and they smiled back.


	9. Chapter 9

Eventually, everyone in Coolsville began to celebrate and cheer for Mystery Inc again once things were back to normal. Of course, the police came over to do their jobs as this mystery came to a close.

 _'Here comes my favorite part.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Mystery Inc, do you know the identity of the Evil Masked Figure behind it all?" A newswoman asked as she flooded with other reporters.

"Well, if our hunch is correct, the Evil Masked Figure is..." Velma drawled until they removed the mask.

" **NO!** " The Evil Masked Figure growled.

The mask was soon pulled off, revealing a certain female reporter. The crowd gasped in surprise to see that it was Heather all along.

"Heather Jasper-Howe." Daphne smirked.

Scooby nodded along with the others, but even he seemed surprised as Patrick came out of the crowd.

"But she was at the museum when the masked figure was on the roof." Another newswoman pointed out of confusion.

"True, but she had someone fill in for her as the masked figure." Mo smirked.

"And that was... Ned!" Cherry pointed to the cameraman who assisted Heather.

Ned looked around before trying to run away only to get grabbed by the cops beside him.

"When I realized she was the Evil Masked Figure, he quickly changed into her costume." Daphne replied.

Patch nodded.

"But why did she do it?" The first newswoman asked.

"Because, Heather Jasper-Howe is actually..." Velma said before removing Heather's face, revealing to be yet another mask of an older man. "Dr. Johnathan Jacabo: The original Pterodactyl Ghost."

Patch was slightly confused by this.

"But how do you know this?" Another reporter asked.

"A photo, taken of Jacobo in front of the Coolsonian," Cherry said as she brought out a newspaper scrap she had found earlier. "Jacobo supposedly died a year before construction even began."

Mo nodded in agreement.

"So, Jacobo survived that fall off the prison wall." Shaggy said.

"Reah!" Scooby nodded.

"He also had adopted that false Heather Jasper-Howe persona to turn the press against you guys." Patch said.

"And he framed that poor, hideous Old Man Wickles by putting that book and the Black Knight Ghost in his mansion." Cherry added.

 _'This is coming along nicely.'_ Mo thought to herself.

"As if you getting the lead in My Fair Lady wasn't enough!" Wickles glared at Jacobo.

"I was an excellent Eliza!" Jacobo retorted as he was being hauled away. "You were 'too acty'!"

"Oi." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"And stealing my Tater Tots!" Wickles snapped.

"You kept saying you felt puffy!" Jacobo retorted.

"And the real identity of Ned is..." Fred said as he came up to the cameraman, grabbing his head, but it wasn't a mask. "...Ned."

"Uh, Fred? Ned never had a mask on." Mo spoke up, feeling embarrassed.

Fred smiled sheepishly to the others.

"And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling punks, and their dumb dogs!" Jacobo called out as he was hauled away.

The crowd soon cheered for Mystery Inc as they had won yet another case.

"Great that everyone loves them again." Patch smiled.

"You were a dude this whole time?" Ned asked Jacobo in betrayal.

"Of course, Dummkopf." Jacobo muttered.

"But we cuddled!" Ned frowned with a slight groan.

"That's disturbing." Bowser said.

* * *

Michelle soon came out of her car and came up to Cherry, hugging her tightly and wiggling in the hug.

Cherry grunted slightly from the hug and coughed. "M-Mom?!... Choking, not breathing!" she then gasped while trying to get out, but failed. "Boy, and people wonder why I have issues..." She soon saw Patrick and decided to go talk with him.

Michelle smiled in the hug.

"MOTHER!" Cherry cried out. "PLEASE!"

"I'm just so happy you're okay." Michelle smiled and kissed her cheek before finally letting her go.

Once she was free, Cherry finally got over to Patrick.

"Hi..." Cherry gasped slightly, catching her breath from her mother's hug.

"H-Hi, Cherry..." Patrick greeted. "Look, I know that must have seemed very suspicious-"

"No, I trust you..." Cherry told him.

"Y-You do?" Patrick asked.

"Uh, listen, Patrick..." Cherry soon said. "I'm not glamorous... I can be a bit mysterious, but... I'm not sure if I can see you like this anymore."

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked.

"Uh, well, I think you're interesting and all, but... I might be too young for you..." Cherry replied. "Don't get me wrong though, I do like older men, but... I think it was just a little crush."

Patrick was heartbroken, but he understood.

"I'm sorry... I'm sure you'll find someone else..." Cherry replied. "Did you really like me like that?"

"Yeah, a little..." Patrick said to her. "Uh, do you know anything about Velma?"

"I'm sorry, Patrick, but I think she's gonna stick with Shaggy." Cherry said.

"I understand." Patrick replied.

"I'm sorry..." Cherry said.

"All right... Well, it was interesting..." Patrick said. "Hard to believe you're only a student, you're very mature for your age."

"Well, when you've had as many adventures as I have, you learn maturity." Cherry shrugged.

"You're a good girl... Don't change." Patrick told her and let her alone right now.

Cherry then heaved a sharp sigh and exhaled once she handled that rather well.

* * *

Mystery Inc was soon back to being admired by all. Fred and Daphne then reunited with each other. Colette seemed to be in the crowd with a bone in her mouth and she kept running until she ran into Patch with a smile. Patch saw Colette and smiled. Colette soon gave him the bone, happy to see him.

"Hi, Colette!" Patch smiled. "It's so good to see you!"

"I just had to come after your guys' reputation came back up," Colette smiled back before frowning. "That was so mean of Coolsville to pick on you for what you guys have been through because of that evil masked man."

"It's alright." Patch said.

Colette and Patch soon nuzzled together after a big adventure away from each other.

"Shaggy, can we get your photo in this?" A reporter asked.

"Uh, yes." Shaggy smiled as he took Captain Cutler's diving helmet and decided to wear it.

"Nice fit." Mo said.

Shaggy soon roared and pretended to be scary.

"Rikes!" Scooby panicked and soon beat Shaggy with a boom mic, thinking that he was the real Captain Cutler.

"Scooby, wait!" Atticus told him.

Shaggy grunted and groaned before removing the helmet. "Like, Scoob, it's me, man!" he then smiled to his best friend.

"Raggy!" Scooby smiled and soon ran into Shaggy, feeling much better now, pouncing on him and licking his face.

* * *

Later on, they soon partied that night at the club.

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" Scooby cheered.

"Ruben Studdard!" Michelle gushed at the celebrity.

"Oi." Cherry rolled her eyes.

The man soon sang a song and they all began to have their own little dance party. This soon made everybody begin to party. Cherry led everyone into a 1980's zombie dance as they seemed attracted to the dance and joined with her like in the infamous music video known as Thriller. Everyone even began to enjoy the zombie dance. The dance party was great for everyone. Patch soon looked to Colette and then began to teach her how to dance since she wasn't sure what to do, and where this night would surely be a night that no one would forget.

The End


End file.
